As a component of the GATOR1 complex functions as an inhibitor of the amino acid-sensing branch of the mTORC1 pathway (PubMed:23723238, PubMed:29590090, PubMed:35338845). In response to amino acid depletion, the GATOR1 complex has GTPase activating protein (GAP) activity and strongly increases GTP hydrolysis by RagA/RRAGA (or RagB/RRAGB) within heterodimeric Rag complexes, thereby turning them into their inactive GDP-bound form, releasing mTORC1 from lysosomal surface and inhibiting mTORC1 signaling (PubMed:23723238, PubMed:29590090, PubMed:35338845). In the presence of abundant amino acids, the GATOR1 complex is negatively regulated by GATOR2, the other GATOR subcomplex, in this amino acid-sensing branch of the TORC1 pathway (PubMed:23723238).
