Royal jelly attenuates metabolic defects in a mutant with elevated TORC1 activity.

Target of rapamycin complex 1 (TORC1) is a master regulator of cell metabolism, and its dysregulation has been linked to an array of pathologies, including cancer and age-related diseases. Nprl3, a component of GTPase-activating protein towards Rags complex 1 (GATOR1), inhibits TORC1 activity under nutrient scarcity status. The mutant exhibits some metabolic defects due to hyper TORC1 activity in Royal jelly (RJ) is a honeybee-secreted product and plays an essential role in caste differentiation that requires TORC1 activity. RJ is also used as a health-benefit food for its potential roles on antioxidant and anti-aging. In this study, -mutant flies were used to measure the effect of RJ on metabolic modulation. Interestingly, RJ feeding significantly increased survival and decreased TORC1 activity in the mutant. RJ feeding also ameliorated the abnormal reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels and energy status in the mutant. The proteins in RJ were characterized to be the essential components in increasing mutant viability. These findings suggest that RJ modulates some metabolic defects associated with elevated TORC1 activity and that the -mutant fly might be a useful tool for investigating the bioactive components of RJ .