Therefore, inhibition of mTOR by either rapamycin or AMPK activation promotes autophagy.8 Recent studies pointed to the role of autophagy in differentiation of some leukemia cell lines, including all-trans-retinoic acid (ATRA)-induced differentiation of acute promyelocytic leukemia NB4 cells,10–12 vitamin D3-mediated differentiation of myeloblastic HL-60 cells13 and megakaryocytic differentiation of CML K562 cells in response to phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA) or lapatinib.14,15. The gene discussed is MTOR; the disease is leukemia.