Lysosomal positioning coordinates cellular nutrient responses

Korolchuk VI, Saiki S, Lichtenberg M, Siddiqi FH, Roberts EA, Imarisio S, Jahreiss L, Sarkar S, Futter M, Menzies FM, O'Kane CJ, Deretic V · 2011 · Nature cell biology · Atlas ID KOR2011

What this study shows

Where the lysosome sits inside the cell helps decide whether mTORC1 is on. With nutrients available, lysosomes move to the cell periphery, physically close to the plasma-membrane signalling modules, and mTORC1 is active there; starvation changes intracellular pH and pulls lysosomes into a cluster around the nucleus, where mTORC1 output falls and autophagy is released. Lysosomal position also sets the rate of autophagosome-lysosome fusion, so one variable acts at both the initiation and the termination end of autophagic flux. This added a spatial axis to mTORC1 regulation that Rag/Ragulator recruitment alone does not account for.

Abstract

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mTOR (mammalian target of rapamycin) signalling and macroautophagy (henceforth autophagy) regulate numerous pathological and physiological processes, including cellular responses to altered nutrient levels. However, the mechanisms regulating mTOR and autophagy remain incompletely understood. Lysosomes are dynamic intracellular organelles intimately involved both in the activation of mTOR complex 1 (mTORC1) signalling and in degrading autophagic substrates.

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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	2011
Peer reviewed	Yes
Record last updated	2026-09-23
Source	DOI 10.1038/ncb2204 · PMID 21394080

Cite this paper

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Korolchuk, V. I., Saiki, S., Lichtenberg, M., Siddiqi, F. H., Roberts, E. A., Imarisio, S., Jahreiss, L., Sarkar, S., Futter, M., Menzies, F. M., O'Kane, C. J., Deretic, V., & Rubinsztein, D. C. (2011). Lysosomal positioning coordinates cellular nutrient responses. Nature cell biology. https://doi.org/10.1038/ncb2204

@article{KOR2011,
  author       = {Korolchuk, V. I. and Saiki, S. and Lichtenberg, M. and Siddiqi, F. H. and Roberts, E. A. and Imarisio, S. and Jahreiss, L. and Sarkar, S. and Futter, M. and Menzies, F. M. and O'Kane, C. J. and Deretic, V. and Rubinsztein, D. C.},
  title        = {{Lysosomal positioning coordinates cellular nutrient responses}},
  journal      = {Nature cell biology},
  year         = {2011},
  doi          = {10.1038/ncb2204},
  note         = {PMID: 21394080},
}

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 KOR2011) [Data set]. https://mtor-atlas.org/study/KOR2011/ · Dataset DOI 10.5281/zenodo.22059963

@misc{atlas_KOR2011,
  author       = {Barton, Oliver},
  title        = {{Oliver's mTOR Atlas}, record KOR2011},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  year         = {2026},
  url          = {https://mtor-atlas.org/study/KOR2011/},
  doi          = {10.5281/zenodo.22059963}
}