TFEB links autophagy to lysosomal biogenesis

Settembre C, Di Malta C, Polito VA, Garcia Arencibia M, Vetrini F, Erdin S, Erdin SU, Huynh T, Medina D, Colella P, Sardiello M, …, Ballabio A · 2011 · Science · Atlas ID SET2011

What this study shows

Showed that TFEB drives a coordinated autophagy and lysosomal gene programme during starvation. In this paper TFEB was regulated by ERK2 phosphorylation; its control by mTORC1 at the lysosome was established in later work (SET2012).

Abstract

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Autophagy is a cellular catabolic process that relies on the cooperation of autophagosomes and lysosomes. During starvation, the cell expands both compartments to enhance degradation processes. We found that starvation activates a transcriptional program that controls major steps of the autophagic pathway, including autophagosome formation, autophagosome-lysosome fusion, and substrate degradation. The transcription factor EB (TFEB), a master gene for lysosomal biogenesis, coordinated this program by driving expression of autophagy and lysosomal genes.

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/mouse 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	Human/mouse cells
Journal	Science
Year	2011
Peer reviewed	Yes
Record last updated	2026-10-01
Source	DOI 10.1126/science.1204592 · PMID 21617040 · Free full text (PMC3638014)

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 (TFEB)
Target	TFEB / autophagy-lysosome
Model	Human/mouse cells
Effect	TFEB drives a transcriptional program that links autophagy to lysosomal biogenesis

In the Atlas

Links in the pathway map

Supports mTORC1 inhibits TFEB
Supports TFEB activates Autophagy
Supports TFEB activates Lysosomal biogenesis
Supports Lysosomal biogenesis activates Lysosome

Cite this paper

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Settembre, C., Di Malta, C., Polito, V. A., Garcia Arencibia, M., Vetrini, F., Erdin, S., Erdin, S. U., Huynh, T., Medina, D., Colella, P., Sardiello, M., Rubinsztein, D. C., & Ballabio, A. (2011). TFEB links autophagy to lysosomal biogenesis. Science. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1204592

@article{SET2011,
  author       = {Settembre, C. and Di Malta, C. and Polito, V. A. and Garcia Arencibia, M. and Vetrini, F. and Erdin, S. and Erdin, S. U. and Huynh, T. and Medina, D. and Colella, P. and Sardiello, M. and Rubinsztein, D. C. and Ballabio, A.},
  title        = {{TFEB links autophagy to lysosomal biogenesis}},
  journal      = {Science},
  year         = {2011},
  doi          = {10.1126/science.1204592},
  note         = {PMID: 21617040},
}

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 SET2011) [Data set]. https://mtor-atlas.org/study/SET2011/ · Dataset DOI 10.5281/zenodo.22059963

@misc{atlas_SET2011,
  author       = {Barton, Oliver},
  title        = {{Oliver's mTOR Atlas}, record SET2011},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  year         = {2026},
  url          = {https://mtor-atlas.org/study/SET2011/},
  doi          = {10.5281/zenodo.22059963}
}

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