MTOR and Leber hereditary optic neuropathy: To further dissect the molecular mechanisms leading to altered autophagy in LHON cells, in particular all potential factors that impinge upon global mitochondrial homeostasis and that co-regulate mitophagy, we investigated the pathways involved in the mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) kinase complex and 5′ adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase (AMPK) axis.