In light of this important finding and our published work on the activation of both NF-κB and STAT-3 signaling pathways during infection of human ECs with R. rickettsii and R. conorii [10,11], this study was undertaken to investigate the activation of mTOR complexes C1 and C2 and induction of autophagy using established in vitro models of infection. Here, STAT3 is linked to infection.