mTOR is a nutrient sensor that coordinates growth by reading amino acids, sugars, cholesterol, and hormones. Too much mTOR activity drives uncontrolled growth and cancer risk. The key to longevity is balancing growth with restraint.
I wanted to open the conversation with just some basics, like what exactly is mtor and how does it play a role in our longevity, aging, disease?
MTOR is this really central enzyme that acts as a sensor of various different nutrients. It's very important to coordinate the availability of nutrients with processes like building new cells, building muscle, or adipose tissue. And so MTOR acts as a sensor that integrates all different sorts of nutrient information. The primary ones that senses are amino acids, sugar, cholesterol, and then the availability of hormonal Qs that indicate it's okay to grow, because you always want to make sure that your body is in control of those processes. Or it could lead to uncontrolled growth, like cancer.
My mind went first to like, almost it sensing if you're in a hibernation state, like if they need to pull back the building of muscle, et cetera, and preserve resources. But it's is it more like the opposite, where we don't want uncontrolled growth?
MTOR senses that all the different types of nutrients that it needs to build these processes are abundant and that growth cues are permissive for growth. Then MTOR activates and it engages these things. And so we absolutely need MTOR activity in order to survive and grow. So it's very key to have MTOR activity.
