Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40691417›Full record

ArticleThe EMBO journal2025

mTORC1 senses glutamine and other amino acids through GCN2.

Gianluca Figlia, Sandra Müller, Fabiola Garcia-Cortizo, Marilena Neff, Glynis Klinke, Gernot Poschet, Aurelio A Teleman

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in The EMBO journal, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
9citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

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Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

9 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Glutamine metabolism in health and disease.Signal transduction and targeted therapy · 2026
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors.

Gianluca FigliaSignal Transduction in Cancer and Metabolism, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, 69120, Germany. gfiglia@ukaachen.de.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8689-8488
Sandra MüllerSignal Transduction in Cancer and Metabolism, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, 69120, Germany.
Fabiola Garcia-CortizoSignal Transduction in Cancer and Metabolism, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, 69120, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5244-5376
Marilena NeffSignal Transduction in Cancer and Metabolism, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, 69120, Germany.
Glynis KlinkeCenter for Organismal Studies, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, 69120, Germany.
Gernot PoschetCenter for Organismal Studies, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, 69120, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5344-0865
Aurelio A TelemanSignal Transduction in Cancer and Metabolism, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, 69120, Germany. a.teleman@dkfz.de.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4237-9368

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

mTORC1 promotes cell growth when nutrients such as amino acids are available. While dedicated sensors relaying availability of leucine, arginine and methionine to mTORC1 have been identified, it is still unclear how mTORC1 senses glutamine, one of its most potent inducers. Here, we find that glutamine is entirely sensed through the protein kinase GCN2, whose initial activation is not triggered by depletion of glutamine itself, but by the concomitant depletion of asparagine. In turn, GCN2 leads to a succession of events that additively inhibit mTORC1: within 1 h, GCN2 inhibits mTORC1 through the Rag GTPases, independently of its function as an eIF2α kinase. Later, GCN2-mediated induction of ATF4 upregulates Ddit4 followed by Sestrin2, which together cause additional mTORC1 inhibition. Additionally, we find that depletion of virtually any other amino acid also inhibits mTORC1 through GCN2. GCN2 and the dedicated amino acid sensors thus represent two independent systems that enable mTORC1 to perceive a wide spectrum of amino acids.

Indexed as

Amino AcidsGlutamineMechanistic Target of Rapamycin Complex 1Protein Serine-Threonine KinasesActivating Transcription Factor 4AnimalsHumansMiceNuclear ProteinsActivating Transcription Factor 4Amino AcidsEIF2AK4 protein, humanEif2ak4 protein, mouseGlutamineMechanistic Target of Rapamycin Complex 1Nuclear ProteinsProtein Serine-Threonine KinasesAmino Acid SensorsAsparagineGCN2GlutaminemTORC1

Identifiers

PMID40691417
PMCPMC12402317

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.