Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 30, 2026

Analysis of SCAP N-glycosylation and Trafficking in Human Cells
Published on: November 8, 2016
mTOR complex 1 regulates lipin 1 localization to control the SREBP pathway
Timothy R Peterson1, Shomit S Sengupta, Thurl E Harris
1Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, Koch Center for Integrative Cancer Research at MIT, Department of Biology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA.
Abstract:
The nutrient- and growth factor-responsive kinase mTOR complex 1 (mTORC1) regulates many processes that control growth, including protein synthesis, autophagy, and lipogenesis. Through unknown mechanisms, mTORC1 promotes the function of SREBP, a master regulator of lipo- and sterolgenic gene transcription. Here, we demonstrate that mTORC1 regulates SREBP by controlling the nuclear entry of lipin 1, a phosphatidic acid phosphatase. Dephosphorylated, nuclear, catalytically active lipin 1 promotes nuclear remodeling and mediates the effects of mTORC1 on SREBP target gene, SREBP promoter activity, and nuclear SREBP protein abundance. Inhibition of mTORC1 in the liver significantly impairs SREBP function and makes mice resistant, in a lipin 1-dependent fashion, to the hepatic steatosis and hypercholesterolemia induced by a high-fat and -cholesterol diet. These findings establish lipin 1 as a key component of the mTORC1-SREBP pathway.
Related Concept Videos
PI3K/mTOR/AKT Signaling Pathway
mTOR Signaling and Cancer Progression
The mTOR pathway or the...
mTOR Signaling and Cancer Progression
The mTOR pathway or the...
Regulation of Nuclear Protein Sorting
Lipid Catabolism
The JAK-STAT Signaling Pathway
