mTOR

Mechanistic Target of Rapamycin · Serine/threonine kinase

mTOR is your cells' growth accelerator. When nutrients are abundant, mTOR pushes cells to grow and divide – suppressing the cleanup and maintenance programs that keep you healthy long-term. Inhibiting mTOR with rapamycin (or mimicking it with fasting) shifts cells into a repair mode that extends lifespan in nearly every organism studied.

Size

2,549 amino acids

Complexes

mTORC1 · mTORC2

Key pathway

PI3K / Akt / mTOR

Controls

Autophagy · Senescence

View in AlphaFold Database

Why mTOR is Central to Longevity

The discovery that rapamycin extended mouse lifespan by 14–38% – even when treatment began at the human equivalent of age 60 – made mTOR the most validated longevity target in biology. No other single intervention has so consistently extended lifespan across yeast, worms, flies, and mammals.

mTOR integrates signals from nutrients (amino acids, glucose), growth factors (insulin, IGF-1), and energy status (via AMPK) to decide whether a cell should grow or conserve. Chronic over-activation of mTOR – common in modern high-nutrient environments – is associated with accelerated aging, cancer, and metabolic disease.

The structure shown here was predicted by Google DeepMind's AlphaFold 2 model. Colors indicate prediction confidence (pLDDT score): blue regions are predicted with very high accuracy; orange regions represent flexible or disordered segments where confidence is lower.

Interventions Targeting mTOR

Sorted by evidence grade

B-

Rapamycin

Direct mTORC1 inhibitor – the most potent longevity drug known

B+

Metformin

Activates AMPK, which suppresses mTORC1 signaling

B+

Caloric Restriction

Nutrient deprivation downregulates mTOR activity

B+

Time-Restricted Eating

Fasting periods suppress mTOR, promoting autophagy

B+

Berberine

AMPK activator – indirectly inhibits mTORC1

C+

Rapamycin + Metformin

Dual mTOR suppression via complementary pathways

About this structure

This 3D model was generated by AlphaFold 2, developed by Google DeepMind and EMBL-EBI. The structure represents the full-length human mTOR protein (UniProt P42345). AlphaFold predictions may differ from experimentally determined structures, particularly in disordered regions. Structure data is provided under CC BY 4.0. alphafold.ebi.ac.uk