Oliver's mTOR Atlas Evidence Platform
Reading level
Mode

The Rag GTPases bind raptor and mediate amino acid signaling to mTORC1

Sancak Y, Sabatini DM et al. · 2008 · Science · Atlas ID SAN2008

What this study shows

Identifies the Rag GTPase family as the missing link that lets mTORC1 sense amino acids by controlling whether mTOR is positioned near its activator Rheb.

Abstract

ShowHide

The multiprotein mTORC1 protein kinase complex is the central component of a pathway that promotes growth in response to insulin, energy levels, and amino acids and is deregulated in common cancers. We find that the Rag proteins--a family of four related small guanosine triphosphatases (GTPases)--interact with mTORC1 in an amino acid-sensitive manner and are necessary for the activation of the mTORC1 pathway by amino acids.

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: Human cell lines) 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 type5 - Mechanistic / In Vitro
Model systemHuman cell lines
JournalScience
Year2008
Peer reviewedYes
Record last updated2026-08-22
SourceDOI 10.1126/science.1157535 · PMID 18497260 · Free full text (PMC2475333)

Extracted findings

InterventionGenetic/biochemical (Rag GTPases)
TargetRag GTPases / raptor / mTORC1
ModelHuman cell lines
EffectRag GTPases interact with raptor in an amino-acid-sensitive way and are necessary for amino-acid activation of mTORC1

In the Atlas

Related topics

Rag GTPasesmTORC1

More studies on this topic

Learn the biology

Want to understand the biology behind this study? → Rheb — The Critical Regulator

Cite this paper

ShowHide 
Sancak, Y., et al. (2008). The Rag GTPases bind raptor and mediate amino acid signaling to mTORC1. Science. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1157535

@article{SAN2008,
  author       = {Sancak, Y. and Sabatini, D. M. and others},
  title        = {{The Rag GTPases bind raptor and mediate amino acid signaling to mTORC1}},
  journal      = {Science},
  year         = {2008},
  doi          = {10.1126/science.1157535},
  note         = {PMID: 18497260},
}

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 SAN2008) [Data set]. https://mtor-atlas.org/study/SAN2008/ · Dataset DOI 10.5281/zenodo.22059963

@misc{atlas_SAN2008,
  author       = {Barton, Oliver},
  title        = {{Oliver's mTOR Atlas}, record SAN2008},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  year         = {2026},
  url          = {https://mtor-atlas.org/study/SAN2008/},
  doi          = {10.5281/zenodo.22059963}
}