hTERT inhibits mTORC1 kinase activity in multiple cell lines.

TERT induces autophagy under basal and amino acid starvation conditions.

TERT deficiency impairs autophagy-flux, resulting in decreased cell viability under amino acid starvation.

In metabolically challenged conditions, TERT function modulates mTORC1 activity and induces autophagy.

This autophagy could provide nutrients for aggressively growing cancer cells residing in harsh tumor microenvironment.