Cells respond to starvation or stress by changing the composition of proteins on the cell surface. Researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Biology of Ageing in Cologne have now discovered that a protein complex called mTORC1 is a central coordinator of this process. These findings could be important in the future for the development of therapies for diseases in which the activity of this protein complex is known to be dysregulated, such as cancer, neurological or metabolic disorders or old age.