The AMPK (AMP-activated protein kinase) and TOR (target-of-rapamycin) pathways are interlinked, opposing signaling pathways involved in sensing availability of nutrients and energy and regulation of cell growth. AMPK (Yin, or the “dark side”) is switched on by lack of energy or nutrients and inhibits cell growth, while TOR (Yang, or the “bright side”) is switched on by nutrient availability and promotes cell growth. Genes encoding the AMPK and TOR complexes are found in almost all eukaryotes, suggesting that these pathways arose very early during eukaryotic evolution. During the development of multicellularity, an additional tier of cell-extrinsic growth control arose that is mediated by growth factors, but these often act by modulating nutrient uptake so that AMPK and TOR remain the underlying regulators of cellular growth control. In this review, we discuss the evolution, structure, and regulation of the AMPK and TOR pathways and the complex mechanisms by which they interact.

AMPK（AMP激活的蛋白激酶）和TOR（雷帕霉素的靶标）途径是相互联系的，它们与感应营养物质和能量的利用以及细胞生长的调节有关。AMPK（阴，或“阴暗面”）由于缺乏能量或营养而开启，并抑制细胞生长，而TOR（阳，或“亮面”）通过营养供应而开启，并促进细胞生长。几乎在所有真核生物中都发现了编码AMPK和TOR复合体的基因，这表明这些途径在真核生物进化过程中非常早就出现了。在多细胞性的发展过程中，出现了由生长因子介导的细胞外在生长控制的另一层，但是这些通常通过调节营养摄入而起作用，因此AMPK和TOR仍然是细胞生长控制的基础调节剂。在这篇综述中，我们讨论了AMPK和TOR途径的进化，结构和调控，以及它们相互作用的复杂机制。