Multiple molecular pathways stimulating macroautophagy protect from alpha-synuclein-induced toxicity in human neurons

Matthias Höllerhage, Natascha Fussi, Thomas W. Rösler, Wolfgang Wurst, Christian Behrends, Günter U. Höglinger

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

14 Scopus citations

Abstract

Pathological aggregates of alpha-synuclein are the common hallmarks of synucleinopathies, including Parkinson's disease. There is currently no disease-modifying therapy approved for neurodegenerative synucleinopathies. The induction of macroautophagy by small compounds may be a strategy to reduce the cellular alpha-synuclein burden and to confer neuroprotection. Therefore, in the present study, we investigated a broad spectrum of druggable molecular signaling pathways reported to induce macroautophagy in human cells and compared their protective efficacy against alpha-synuclein-induced toxicity in cultured human postmitotic dopaminergic neurons. Several compounds affecting different pathways were able to activate macroautophagy. All compounds that activated autophagy also protected against alpha-synuclein-induced toxicity. The compounds with the lowest effective concentrations were PI-103, L-690,330, and NF 449, making them particularly interesting for further investigations, including in vivo models. Our findings demonstrate that activation of macroautophagy, as a neuroprotective approach in synucleinopathies, is accessible to pharmacotherapy. Moreover, pharmacological activation of macroautophagy via diverse signaling pathways is effective to protect human dopaminergic neurons against alpha-synuclein-induced toxicity.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)13-26
Number of pages14
JournalNeuropharmacology
Volume149
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 May 2019

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