Genetic and chemical activation of TFEB mediates clearance of aggregated α-synuclein

Abstract

Aggregation of α-synuclein (α-syn) is associated with the development of a number of neurodegenerative diseases, including Parkinson' s disease (PD). The formation of α-syn aggregates results from aberrant accumulation of misfolded α-syn and insufficient or impaired activity of the two main intracellular protein degradation systems, namely the ubiquitin- proteasome system and the autophagy-lysosomal pathway. In this study, we investigated the role of transcription factor EB (TFEB), a master regulator of the autophagylysosomal pathway, in preventing the accumulation of α-syn aggregates in human neuroglioma cells. We found that TFEB overexpression reduces the accumulation of aggregated α-syn by inducing autophagic clearance of α-syn. Furthermore, we showed that pharmacological activation of TFEB using 2-hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin promotes autophagic clearance of aggregated α-syn. In summary, our findings demonstrate that TFEB modulates autophagic clearance of α-syn and suggest that pharmacological activation of TFEB is a promising strategy to enhance the degradation of α-syn aggregates.