Mammalian TOR complex 2 controls the actin cytoskeleton and is rapamycin insensitive

Jacinto E, Loewith R, Schmidt A, Lin S, Rüegg MA, Hall A, Hall MN · 2004 · Nature cell biology · Atlas ID JAC2004

What this study shows

mTORC2 (rictor) controls the actin cytoskeleton and is rapamycin-insensitive, defining a second mTOR complex in mammals.

Abstract

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The target of rapamycin (TOR) is a highly conserved protein kinase and a central controller of cell growth. In budding yeast, TOR is found in structurally and functionally distinct protein complexes: TORC1 and TORC2. A mammalian counterpart of TORC1 (mTORC1) has been described, but it is not known whether TORC2 is conserved in mammals. Here, we report that a mammalian counterpart of TORC2 (mTORC2) also exists. mTORC2 contains mTOR, mLST8 and mAVO3, but not raptor. Like yeast TORC2, mTORC2 is rapamycin insensitive and seems to function upstream of Rho GTPases to regulate the actin cytoskeleton.

Read the full abstract on PubMed →

At a glance

Evidence type	M Molecular — cells, biochemistry, structure Marked M because it is molecular or in-vitro work (model: Mammalian cells) rather than a whole-organism health-outcome study. That is often exactly where causal biology gets established -- the code says which system the finding was shown in, and nothing about how good the work is.
Study type	5 - Mechanistic / In Vitro
Model system	Mammalian cells
Journal	Nature cell biology
Year	2004
Peer reviewed	Yes
Record last updated	2026-10-01
Source	DOI 10.1038/ncb1183 · PMID 15467718

Extracted findings

These fields were extracted from the paper with AI assistance and have not been checked against the source. Read them as a pointer into the paper, not as curated claims; where they disagree with the curated summary above, the curated summary stands.

Intervention	Biochemical/genetic (mTORC2/rictor)
Target	mTORC2 / actin cytoskeleton
Model	Mammalian cells
Effect	mTORC2 (mTOR-mLST8-rictor) controls the actin cytoskeleton and is rapamycin-insensitive

In the Atlas

Links in the pathway map

Supports mTORC2 activates Actin cytoskeleton
Supports Rictor required-for mTORC2

Cite this paper

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Jacinto, E., Loewith, R., Schmidt, A., Lin, S., Rüegg, M. A., Hall, A., & Hall, M. N. (2004). Mammalian TOR complex 2 controls the actin cytoskeleton and is rapamycin insensitive. Nature cell biology. https://doi.org/10.1038/ncb1183

@article{JAC2004,
  author       = {Jacinto, E. and Loewith, R. and Schmidt, A. and Lin, S. and Rüegg, M. A. and Hall, A. and Hall, M. N.},
  title        = {{Mammalian TOR complex 2 controls the actin cytoskeleton and is rapamycin insensitive}},
  journal      = {Nature cell biology},
  year         = {2004},
  doi          = {10.1038/ncb1183},
  note         = {PMID: 15467718},
}

Cite this Atlas record

The record is the Atlas's own work — the evidence label, the extracted findings and the links. It is cited as part of the dataset, not as the paper.

Barton, O. (2026). Oliver's mTOR Atlas (record JAC2004) [Data set]. https://mtor-atlas.org/study/JAC2004/ · Dataset DOI 10.5281/zenodo.22059963

@misc{atlas_JAC2004,
  author       = {Barton, Oliver},
  title        = {{Oliver's mTOR Atlas}, record JAC2004},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  year         = {2026},
  url          = {https://mtor-atlas.org/study/JAC2004/},
  doi          = {10.5281/zenodo.22059963}
}

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