Insulin signalling to mTOR mediated by the Akt/PKB substrate PRAS40

Vander Haar E, Lee SI, Bandhakavi S, Griffin TJ, Kim DH · 2007 · Nature cell biology · Atlas ID VAN2007

What this study shows

Insulin signals to mTORC1 through Akt phosphorylation of the inhibitor PRAS40.

Abstract

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Insulin stimulates protein synthesis and cell growth by activation of the protein kinases Akt (also known as protein kinase B, PKB) and mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR). It was reported that Akt activates mTOR by phosphorylation and inhibition of tuberous sclerosis complex 2 (TSC2). However, in recent studies the physiological requirement of Akt phosphorylation of TSC2 for mTOR activation has been questioned. Here, we identify PRAS40 (proline-rich Akt/PKB substrate 40 kDa) as a novel mTOR binding partner that mediates Akt signals to mTOR.

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	2007
Peer reviewed	Yes
Record last updated	2026-10-01
Source	DOI 10.1038/ncb1547 · PMID 17277771

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 (PRAS40/Akt)
Target	mTORC1 / PRAS40 / Akt
Model	Mammalian cells
Effect	Insulin signals to mTOR via Akt phosphorylation of PRAS40, relieving its inhibition of mTORC1

In the Atlas

Links in the pathway map

Supports Akt/PKB inhibits PRAS40

Cite this paper

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Vander Haar, E., Lee, S. I., Bandhakavi, S., Griffin, T. J., & Kim, D. H. (2007). Insulin signalling to mTOR mediated by the Akt/PKB substrate PRAS40. Nature cell biology. https://doi.org/10.1038/ncb1547

@article{VAN2007,
  author       = {Vander Haar, E. and Lee, S. I. and Bandhakavi, S. and Griffin, T. J. and Kim, D. H.},
  title        = {{Insulin signalling to mTOR mediated by the Akt/PKB substrate PRAS40}},
  journal      = {Nature cell biology},
  year         = {2007},
  doi          = {10.1038/ncb1547},
  note         = {PMID: 17277771},
}

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 VAN2007) [Data set]. https://mtor-atlas.org/study/VAN2007/ · Dataset DOI 10.5281/zenodo.22059963

@misc{atlas_VAN2007,
  author       = {Barton, Oliver},
  title        = {{Oliver's mTOR Atlas}, record VAN2007},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  year         = {2026},
  url          = {https://mtor-atlas.org/study/VAN2007/},
  doi          = {10.5281/zenodo.22059963}
}

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