Introduction:

rapamycin, is a macrolide compound that is used to coat coronary stents, prevent organ transplant rejection and to treat a rare lung disease called lymphangioleiomyomatosis. It has immunosuppressant functions in humans and is especially useful in preventing the rejection of kidney transplants.

Rapamycin induced formation of autophagosomes in NB cells
The formation of autophagosomes in NB cells treated with 20 µM Rapamycin for 24 h was analyzed. As shown in Figure 4, in control cells, autophagic vacuoles were rare, while in Rapamycin-treated cells, there were many double-membrane autophagosomes and single-membrane autolysosomes.

Rapamycin and TOR
It has been known since the 1930s that caloric restriction extends lifespan and slows aging. Rapamycin could be characterized as caloric restriction in a pill. In a mouse study discussed in the "Cardiomyopathy" section, rapamycin had similar effect  in restoring the dysfunction of old hearts to normal function of young hearts. The effect of caloric restriction is to decrease TOR indirectly, the effect of rapamycin is to  decrease TOR directly.
The trick is daily rapamycin lowers mTOR1 and mTOR2; while weekly rapamycin can be used to only lower mTOR1, while preserving the functional levels of mTOR2.

How does rapamycin inhibit mTOR?
Mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) is a protein kinase that controls cell growth, proliferation, and survival. ... Further development of selective mTOR kinase inhibitors holds the promise of yielding potent anticancer drugs with a novel mechanism of action.