MTOR and metabolic disease: PI3K/AKT/mTOR and AMPK/mTOR are two quite significant upstream signaling pathways of mTOR in autophagy regulation, which is implicated in tumor progression, myocardial dysfunction, neurodegeneration and metabolic disorders.7,8 Moreover, Wnt signaling pathway is associated with autophagy repression, and is involved in embryogenesis and differentiation.