Biological Pathway
Energy Sensing
Last updated
The cellular sensors that read how much fuel a cell has and switch it between building and breaking down. AMPK, AMP-activated protein kinase, responds to scarcity and turns on processes that generate ATP, such as fat oxidation and the recycling of worn cell components. mTOR, the mechanistic target of rapamycin, responds to plenty and turns on synthesis and growth. The two broadly oppose one another, and much of the longevity literature is an argument about which way to tilt them.
Why it matters here
This is where a claim about metabolic health and a claim about muscle growth can be in direct conflict on the same record, because one switch cannot be pushed both ways at once.
What it is not
AMPK and mTOR are not simple opposites or on/off switches; each exists in several forms and behaves differently by tissue, so AMPK good, mTOR bad is a slogan rather than a finding. Nothing recorded on this pathway should be read as a claim that any compound extends life.
Also called
- energy sensing
- cellular energy sensing
- ampk/mtor axis
AMPK/mTOR axis names the pathway by its two best-known sensors, though those two are not the whole of energy sensing.
Compounds carrying this term
None on file yet. This term is in the controlled vocabulary but no compound record currently uses it — which is a statement about our coverage, not about the term.