Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2018;64(2):127-134.
doi: 10.1159/000484629. Epub 2017 Dec 1.

mTOR as Regulator of Lifespan, Aging, and Cellular Senescence: A Mini-Review

Thomas Weichhart  1
Affiliations
Review

mTOR as Regulator of Lifespan, Aging, and Cellular Senescence: A Mini-Review

Thomas Weichhart. Gerontology. 2018.

Abstract

The mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) network is an evolutionary conserved signaling hub that senses and integrates environmental and intracellular nutrient and growth factor signals to coordinate basic cellular and organismal responses such as cell growth, proliferation, apoptosis, and inflammation depending on the individual cell and tissue. A growing list of evidence suggests that mTOR signaling influences longevity and aging. Inhibition of the mTOR complex 1 (mTORC1) with rapamycin is currently the only known pharmacological treatment that increases lifespan in all model organisms studied. This review discusses the potential mechanisms how mTOR signaling controls lifespan and influences aging-related processes such as cellular senescence, metabolism, and stem cell function. Understanding these processes might provide novel therapeutic approaches to influence longevity and aging-related diseases.

Keywords: Calorie restriction; Metabolic reprogramming; Rapamycin.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The mTOR signaling network. For details see text.
Figure 2
Figure 2
The role of mTORC1 for longevity and aging. The mechanisms how mTORC1 regulates longevity and aging.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Saxton RA, Sabatini DM. mTOR Signaling in Growth, Metabolism, and Disease. Cell. 2017 Mar 9;168:960–976. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Weichhart T, Hengstschläger M, Linke M. Regulation of innate immune cell function by mTOR. Nat Rev Immunol. 2015 Oct;15:599–614. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Cornu M, Albert V, Hall MN. mTOR in aging, metabolism, and cancer. Curr Opin Genet Dev. 2013 Feb;23:53–62. - PubMed
    1. Liu P, Gan W, Chin YR, Ogura K, Guo J, Zhang J, et al. PtdIns(3,4,5)P3-Dependent Activation of the mTORC2 Kinase Complex. Cancer Discov. 2015 Nov;5:1194–1209. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Marat AL, Wallroth A, Lo W-T, Müller R, Norata GD, Falasca M, et al. mTORC1 activity repression by late endosomal phosphatidylinositol 3,4-bisphosphate. Science. 2017 Jun 2;356:968–972. - PubMed

Publication types

Substances