Adipose-specific knockout of raptor results in lean mice with enhanced mitochondrial respiration

Polak P, Cybulski N, Feige JN, Auwerx J, Rüegg MA, Hall MN · 2008 · Cell metabolism · Atlas ID POL2008

What this study shows

Adipose raptor knockout yields lean, metabolically protected mice, revealing mTORC1's role in fat metabolism.

Abstract

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raptor is a specific and essential component of mammalian TOR complex 1 (mTORC1), a key regulator of cell growth and metabolism. To investigate a role of adipose mTORC1 in regulation of adipose and whole-body metabolism, we generated mice with an adipose-specific knockout of raptor (raptor(ad-/-)). Compared to control littermates, raptor(ad-/-) mice had substantially less adipose tissue, were protected against diet-induced obesity and hypercholesterolemia, and exhibited improved insulin sensitivity.

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At a glance

Evidence type	A Animal model Marked A because it is an animal intervention or observation study measuring an organismal outcome (model: Mouse (adipose raptor KO)); the code names the system studied -- animal work can be rigorous and still not be human data.
Study type	4 - Animal Study
Model system	Mouse (adipose raptor KO)
Journal	Cell metabolism
Year	2008
Peer reviewed	Yes
Record last updated	2026-10-01
Source	DOI 10.1016/j.cmet.2008.09.003 · PMID 19046571

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	Genetic – adipose-specific raptor knockout
Target	mTORC1 (raptor)
Model	Mouse (adipose raptor KO)
Effect	Adipose raptor loss yields lean mice protected from diet-induced obesity with enhanced mitochondrial respiration

In the Atlas

Links in the pathway map

Points the other way on mTORC1 activates Oxidative phosphorylation

Cite this paper

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Polak, P., Cybulski, N., Feige, J. N., Auwerx, J., Rüegg, M. A., & Hall, M. N. (2008). Adipose-specific knockout of raptor results in lean mice with enhanced mitochondrial respiration. Cell metabolism. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cmet.2008.09.003

@article{POL2008,
  author       = {Polak, P. and Cybulski, N. and Feige, J. N. and Auwerx, J. and Rüegg, M. A. and Hall, M. N.},
  title        = {{Adipose-specific knockout of raptor results in lean mice with enhanced mitochondrial respiration}},
  journal      = {Cell metabolism},
  year         = {2008},
  doi          = {10.1016/j.cmet.2008.09.003},
  note         = {PMID: 19046571},
}

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 POL2008) [Data set]. https://mtor-atlas.org/study/POL2008/ · Dataset DOI 10.5281/zenodo.22059963

@misc{atlas_POL2008,
  author       = {Barton, Oliver},
  title        = {{Oliver's mTOR Atlas}, record POL2008},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  year         = {2026},
  url          = {https://mtor-atlas.org/study/POL2008/},
  doi          = {10.5281/zenodo.22059963}
}

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