David Sabatini

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David Sabatini leads the research group Molecular Analysis of Growth Regulation in Animals at IOCB Prague, with laboratory sites in Prague and the Boston area. His laboratory's early work on the mechanism of action of rapamycin led to discovery of its target, the mTOR protein kinase, now recognised as a central regulator of eukaryotic growth that balances anabolic and catabolic processes and a major pathway in ageing research. His group identified the mTOR-containing complexes mTORC1 and mTORC2 and much of the nutrient-sensing machinery upstream of mTORC1, including the Rag GTPases, GATOR complexes and the leucine and arginine sensors Sestrin and CASTOR, and showed that nutrient activation of mTORC1 involves its translocation to the lysosome surface. The lab developed rapid organelle-isolation methods (Lyso-IP, Mito-IP), genome-scale RNAi and CRISPR screening approaches and a human plasma-like culture medium. Current interests include nutrient sensing, lysosomal and mitochondrial function, and ageing; 2026 work includes an atlas of lysosomal ageing. He was previously a professor at MIT and a member of the Whitehead Institute.

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