Targeting the autophagy-NAD axis protects against cell death in Niemann-Pick type C1 disease models.

Impairment of autophagy leads to an accumulation of misfolded proteins and damaged organelles and has been implicated in plethora of human diseases. Loss of autophagy in actively respiring cells has also been shown to trigger metabolic collapse mediated by the depletion of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD) pools, resulting in cell death. Here we found that the deficit in the autophagy-NAD axis underpins the loss of viability in cell models of a neurodegenerative lysosomal storage disorder, Niemann-Pick type C1 (NPC1) disease. Defective autophagic flux in NPC1 cells resulted in mitochondrial dysfunction due to impairment of mitophagy, leading to the depletion of both the reduced and oxidised forms of NAD as identified via metabolic profiling. Consequently, exhaustion of the NAD pools triggered mitochondrial depolarisation and apoptotic cell death. Our chemical screening identified two FDA-approved drugs, celecoxib and memantine, as autophagy activators which effectively restored autophagic flux, NAD levels, and cell viability of NPC1 cells. Of biomedical relevance, either pharmacological rescue of the autophagy deficiency or NAD precursor supplementation restored NAD levels and improved the viability of NPC1 patient fibroblasts and induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived cortical neurons. Together, our findings identify the autophagy-NAD axis as a mechanism of cell death and a target for therapeutic interventions in NPC1 disease, with a potential relevance to other neurodegenerative disorders.

High-Throughput Behavioral Aging and Lifespan Assays Using the Lifespan Machine.

Genetically identical animals kept in a constant environment display a wide distribution of lifespans, reflecting a large non-genetic, stochastic aspect to aging conserved across all organisms studied. This stochastic component means that in order to understand aging and identify successful interventions that extend the lifespan or improve health, researchers must monitor large populations of experimental animals simultaneously. Traditional manual death scoring limits the throughput and scale required for large-scale hypothesis testing, leading to the development of automated methods for high-throughput lifespan assays. The Lifespan Machine (LSM) is a high-throughput imaging platform that combines modified flatbed scanners with custom image processing and data validation software for the life-long tracking of nematodes. The platform constitutes a major technical advance by generating highly temporally resolved lifespan data from large populations of animals at an unprecedented scale and at a statistical precision and accuracy equal to manual assays performed by experienced researchers. Recently, the LSM has been further developed to quantify the behavioral and morphological changes observed during aging and relate them to lifespan. Here, we describe how to plan, run, and analyze an automated lifespan experiment using the LSM. We further highlight the critical steps required for the successful collection of behavioral data and high-quality survival curves.

NAD depletion mediates cytotoxicity in human neurons with autophagy deficiency.

Autophagy is a homeostatic process critical for cellular survival, and its malfunction is implicated in human diseases including neurodegeneration. Loss of autophagy contributes to cytotoxicity and tissue degeneration, but the mechanistic understanding of this phenomenon remains elusive. Here, we generated autophagy-deficient (ATG5-/-) human embryonic stem cells (hESCs), from which we established a human neuronal platform to investigate how loss of autophagy affects neuronal survival. ATG5-/- neurons exhibit basal cytotoxicity accompanied by metabolic defects. Depletion of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD) due to hyperactivation of NAD-consuming enzymes is found to trigger cell death via mitochondrial depolarization in ATG5-/- neurons. Boosting intracellular NAD levels improves cell viability by restoring mitochondrial bioenergetics and proteostasis in ATG5-/- neurons. Our findings elucidate a mechanistic link between autophagy deficiency and neuronal cell death that can be targeted for therapeutic interventions in neurodegenerative and lysosomal storage diseases associated with autophagic defect.

Metabolic function of autophagy is essential for cell survival.

Age-related human pathologies present with a multitude of molecular and metabolic phenotypes, which individually or synergistically contribute to tissue degeneration. However, current lack of understanding of the interdependence of these molecular pathologies limits the potential range of existing therapeutic intervention strategies. In our study, we set out to understand the chain of molecular events, which underlie the loss of cellular viability in macroautophagy/autophagy deficiency associated with aging and age-related disease. We discover a novel axis linking autophagy, a cellular waste disposal pathway, and a metabolite, nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD). The axis connects multiple organelles, molecules and stress response pathways mediating cellular demise when autophagy becomes dysfunctional. By elucidating the steps on the path from efficient mitochondrial recycling to NAD maintenance and ultimately cell viability, we highlight targets potentially receptive to therapeutic interventions in a range of genetic and age-related diseases associated with autophagy dysfunction.Abbreviations: IMM: inner mitochondrial membrane; NAD: nicotinamide dinucleotide; OXPHOS: oxidative phosphorylation; PARP: poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase; ROS: reactive oxygen species.

Autophagy promotes cell survival by maintaining NAD levels.

Autophagy is an essential catabolic process that promotes the clearance of surplus or damaged intracellular components. Loss of autophagy in age-related human pathologies contributes to tissue degeneration through a poorly understood mechanism. Here, we identify an evolutionarily conserved role of autophagy from yeast to humans in the preservation of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD) levels, which are critical for cell survival. In respiring mouse fibroblasts with autophagy deficiency, loss of mitochondrial quality control was found to trigger hyperactivation of stress responses mediated by NADases of PARP and Sirtuin families. Uncontrolled depletion of the NAD(H) pool by these enzymes ultimately contributed to mitochondrial membrane depolarization and cell death. Pharmacological and genetic interventions targeting several key elements of this cascade improved the survival of autophagy-deficient yeast, mouse fibroblasts, and human neurons. Our study provides a mechanistic link between autophagy and NAD metabolism and identifies targets for interventions in human diseases associated with autophagic, lysosomal, and mitochondrial dysfunction.

Alpha-Synuclein Post-translational Modifications: Implications for Pathogenesis of Lewy Body Disorders.

Lewy Body Disorders (LBDs) lie within the spectrum of age-related neurodegenerative diseases now frequently categorized as the synucleinopathies. LBDs are considered to be among the second most common form of neurodegenerative dementias after Alzheimer's disease. They are progressive conditions with variable clinical symptoms embodied within specific cognitive and behavioral disorders. There are currently no effective treatments for LBDs. LBDs are histopathologically characterized by the presence of abnormal neuronal inclusions commonly known as Lewy Bodies (LBs) and extracellular Lewy Neurites (LNs). The inclusions predominantly comprise aggregates of alpha-synuclein (aSyn). It has been proposed that post-translational modifications (PTMs) such as aSyn phosphorylation, ubiquitination SUMOylation, Nitration, o-GlcNacylation, and Truncation play important roles in the formation of toxic forms of the protein, which consequently facilitates the formation of these inclusions. This review focuses on the role of different PTMs in aSyn in the pathogenesis of LBDs. We highlight how these PTMs interact with aSyn to promote misfolding and aggregation and interplay with cell membranes leading to the potential functional and pathogenic consequences detected so far, and their involvement in the development of LBDs.

mTORC1 activity is supported by spatial association with focal adhesions.

The mammalian target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1) integrates mitogenic and stress signals to control growth and metabolism. Activation of mTORC1 by amino acids and growth factors involves recruitment of the complex to the lysosomal membrane and is further supported by lysosome distribution to the cell periphery. Here, we show that translocation of lysosomes toward the cell periphery brings mTORC1 into proximity with focal adhesions (FAs). We demonstrate that FAs constitute discrete plasma membrane hubs mediating growth factor signaling and amino acid input into the cell. FAs, as well as the translocation of lysosome-bound mTORC1 to their vicinity, contribute to both peripheral and intracellular mTORC1 activity. Conversely, lysosomal distribution to the cell periphery is dispensable for the activation of mTORC1 constitutively targeted to FAs. This study advances our understanding of spatial mTORC1 regulation by demonstrating that the localization of mTORC1 to FAs is both necessary and sufficient for its activation by growth-promoting stimuli.

The crosstalk of NAD, ROS and autophagy in cellular health and ageing.

Cellular adaptation to various types of stress requires a complex network of steps that altogether lead to reconstitution of redox balance, degradation of damaged macromolecules and restoration of cellular metabolism. Advances in our understanding of the interplay between cellular signalling and signal translation paint a complex picture of multi-layered paths of regulation. In this review we explore the link between cellular adaptation to metabolic and oxidative stresses by activation of autophagy, a crucial cellular catabolic pathway. Metabolic stress can lead to changes in the redox state of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD), a co-factor in a variety of enzymatic reactions and thus trigger autophagy that acts to sequester intracellular components for recycling to support cellular growth. Likewise, autophagy is activated by oxidative stress to selectively recycle damaged macromolecules and organelles and thus maintain cellular viability. Multiple proteins that help regulate or execute autophagy are targets of post-translational modifications (PTMs) that have an effect on their localization, binding affinity or enzymatic activity. These PTMs include acetylation, a reversible enzymatic modification of a protein's lysine residues, and oxidation, a set of reversible and irreversible modifications by free radicals. Here we highlight the latest findings and outstanding questions on the interplay of autophagy with metabolic stress, presenting as changes in NAD levels, and oxidative stress, with a focus on autophagy proteins that are regulated by both, oxidation and acetylation. We further explore the relevance of this multi-layered signalling to healthy human ageing and their potential role in human disease.

The pROS of Autophagy in Neuronal Health.

Autophagy refers to a set of catabolic pathways that together facilitate degradation of superfluous, damaged and toxic cellular components. The most studied type of autophagy, called macroautophagy, involves membrane mobilisation, cargo engulfment and trafficking of the newly formed autophagic vesicle to the recycling organelle, the lysosome. Macroautophagy responds to a variety of intra- and extra-cellular stress conditions including, but not limited to, pathogen intrusion, oxygen or nutrient starvation, proteotoxic and organelle stress, and elevation of reactive oxygen species (ROS). ROS are highly reactive oxygen molecules that can interact with cellular macromolecules (proteins, lipids, nucleic acids) to either modify their activity or, when released in excess, inflict irreversible damage. Although increased ROS release has long been recognised for its involvement in macroautophagy activation, the underlying mechanisms and the wider impact of ROS-mediated macroautophagy stimulation remain incompletely understood. We therefore discuss the growing body of evidence that describes the variety of mechanisms modulated by ROS that trigger cytoprotective detoxification via macroautophagy. We outline the role of ROS in signalling upstream of autophagy initiation, by increased gene expression and post-translational modifications of transcription factors, and in the formation and nucleation of autophagic vesicles by cysteine modification of conserved autophagy proteins including ATG4B, ATG7 and ATG3. Furthermore, we review the effect of ROS on selective forms of macroautophagy, specifically on cargo recognition by autophagy receptor proteins p62 and NBR1 (neighbour of BRCA1) and the recycling of mitochondria (mitophagy), and peroxisomes (pexophagy). Finally, we highlight both, the standalone and mutual contributions of abnormal ROS signalling and macroautophagy to the development and progression of neurodegenerative diseases.

Mitochondrial quality control as a key determinant of cell survival.

Mitochondria are the energy producing dynamic double-membraned organelles essential for cellular and organismal survival. A multitude of intra- and extra-cellular signals involved in the regulation of energy metabolism and cell fate determination converge on mitochondria to promote or prevent cell survival by modulating mitochondrial function and structure. Mitochondrial fitness is maintained by mitophagy, a pathway of selective degradation of dysfunctional organelles. Mitophagy impairment and altered clearance results in increased levels of dysfunctional and structurally aberrant mitochondria, changes in energy production, loss of responsiveness to intra- and extra-cellular signals and ultimately cell death. The decline of mitochondrial function and homeostasis with age is reported to be central to age-related pathologies. Here we discuss the molecular mechanisms controlling mitochondrial dynamics, mitophagy and cell death signalling and how their perturbation may contribute to ageing and age-related illness.