4E-BP extends lifespan upon dietary restriction by enhancing mitochondrial activity in Drosophila

Zid BM, Rogers AN, Katewa SD, Vargas MA, Kolipinski MC, Lu TA, Benzer S, Kapahi P · 2009 · Cell · Atlas ID ZID2009

What this study shows

Connected the dots between diet, mTOR, and lifespan. Dietary restriction lowers mTOR activity, which frees up 4E-BP - and here 4E-BP was shown to be REQUIRED for the lifespan boost, working by selectively boosting translation of mitochondrial genes. A rare case pinning a specific mTOR effector to the longevity benefit of eating less.

Abstract

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Dietary restriction (DR) extends lifespan in multiple species. To examine the mechanisms of lifespan extension upon DR, we assayed genome-wide translational changes in Drosophila. A number of nuclear encoded mitochondrial genes, including those in Complex I and IV of the electron transport chain, showed increased ribosomal loading and enhanced overall activity upon DR. We found that various mitochondrial genes possessed shorter and less structured 5'UTRs, which were important for their enhanced mRNA translation.

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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: Drosophila (fruit fly)); the code names the system studied -- animal work can be rigorous and still not be human data.
Study type	4 - Animal Study
Model system	Drosophila (fruit fly)
Journal	Cell
Year	2009
Peer reviewed	Yes
Record last updated	2026-08-22
Source	DOI 10.1016/j.cell.2009.07.034 · PMID 19804760 · Free full text (PMC2759400)

Extracted findings

Intervention	Genetic (4E-BP)
Target	4E-BP / mitochondria
Model	Drosophila
Effect	4E-BP extends lifespan under dietary restriction by enhancing mitochondrial activity
Dose	Reducing the concentration of yeast or yeast extract in the fly diet while sucrose was constant (Dietary Restriction)
Sample size	not stated
Effect size	Upon DR, approximately 30% decrease of labeled methionine incorporation into newly synthesized proteins; mitochondrial protein density increased 25% in control flies; 20% upregulation in Complex I activity in DR flies; Cytochrome C oxidase (COX) activity increased 60% in control flies upon DR; 55 genes were differentially translationally downregulated and 201 upregulated upon DR (FDR < 5%)
Limitations	not stated

In the Atlas

Cite this paper

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Zid, B. M., Rogers, A. N., Katewa, S. D., Vargas, M. A., Kolipinski, M. C., Lu, T. A., Benzer, S., & Kapahi, P. (2009). 4E-BP extends lifespan upon dietary restriction by enhancing mitochondrial activity in Drosophila. Cell. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2009.07.034

@article{ZID2009,
  author       = {Zid, B. M. and Rogers, A. N. and Katewa, S. D. and Vargas, M. A. and Kolipinski, M. C. and Lu, T. A. and Benzer, S. and Kapahi, P.},
  title        = {{4E-BP extends lifespan upon dietary restriction by enhancing mitochondrial activity in Drosophila}},
  journal      = {Cell},
  year         = {2009},
  doi          = {10.1016/j.cell.2009.07.034},
  note         = {PMID: 19804760},
}

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 ZID2009) [Data set]. https://mtor-atlas.org/study/ZID2009/ · Dataset DOI 10.5281/zenodo.22059963

@misc{atlas_ZID2009,
  author       = {Barton, Oliver},
  title        = {{Oliver's mTOR Atlas}, record ZID2009},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  year         = {2026},
  url          = {https://mtor-atlas.org/study/ZID2009/},
  doi          = {10.5281/zenodo.22059963}
}