Lysosomal dysfunction drives a transcriptional and epigenetic signature found in disease-associated microglia in neurodegenerative diseases

Abstract

Lysosomal dysfunction is causally linked to neurodegeneration in many lysosomal storage disorders and is associated with various age-related neurodegenerative diseases. Here, we investigated the question of underlying mechanisms using a mouse model of mucopolysaccharidosis type IIIA caused by deficiency of the lysosomal hydrolase SGSH. Systematic imaging and transcriptomic and epigenetic studies revealed microglia to be the most profoundly impacted cell type in brains of Sgsh-deficient mice. Further investigation identified dominant and context-dependent roles of members of the MITF/TFE family as major drivers of microglia-specific epigenetic and transcriptional changes resulting from lysosomal stress that are dependent on collaborative interactions with AP-1/ATF, C/EBP, and PU.1/ETS transcription factors. Features of the transcriptomic and epigenetic alterations observed in murine Sgsh deficiency were also observed in microglia derived from mouse models of age-related neurodegeneration and in human Alzheimer’s disease patients. These findings reveal common and disease-specific transcriptional mechanisms associated with disease-associated microglia phenotypes.