Cited by 55Autophagy in Disease and TherapyCalcium signaling and nucleotide metabolismPI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling in cancer

TFEB Transcriptional Responses Reveal Negative Feedback by BHLHE40 and BHLHE41

Open access
Carey, Kimberly L., Paulus, Geraldine L.C., Wang, Lingfei, Balce, Dale R., Luo, Jessica W., Bergman, Phil, Ferder, Ianina C., Kong, Lingjia +7 more·2020·Cell Reports

Abstract

Transcription factor EB (TFEB) activates lysosomal biogenesis genes in response to environmental cues. Given implications of impaired TFEB signaling and lysosomal dysfunction in metabolic, neurological, and infectious diseases, we aim to systematically identify TFEB-directed circuits by examining transcriptional responses to TFEB subcellular localization and stimulation. We reveal that steady-state nuclear TFEB is sufficient to activate transcription of lysosomal, autophagy, and innate immunity genes, whereas other targets require higher thresholds of stimulation. Furthermore, we identify shared and distinct transcriptional signatures between mTOR inhibition and bacterial autophagy. Using a genome-wide CRISPR library, we find TFEB targets that protect cells from or sensitize cells to lysosomal cell death. BHLHE40 and BHLHE41, genes responsive to high, sustained levels of nuclear TFEB, act in opposition to TFEB upon lysosomal cell death induction. Further investigation identifies genes counter-regulated by TFEB and BHLHE40/41, adding this negative feedback to the current understanding of TFEB regulatory mechanisms.

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1016/j.celrep.2020.108371

Cites

95 of 95 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • The transcription factor EB (TFEB), a key regulator of lysosomal and autophagy, is negatively regulated by BHLHE40/41.

    “Furthermore, a recent study shown that the transcription factor EB (TFEB), a key regulator of lysosomal and autophagy, is negatively regulated by BHLHE40/41 [54].”

    From Targeting Microglial Transcriptional Reprogramming as a Therapy Strategy for Alzheimer's Disease (2026) · cites this paper as [54]

    The Introduction identifies TFEB as a regulator of lysosomal biogenesis and autophagy. The Results and Discussion describe BHLHE40/41 as part of a negative feedback loop that represses select TFEB target genes. They do not establish that BHLHE40/41 negatively regulate TFEB itself or all of its activity, as the citing sentence could imply. (LLM, conf=0.84)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • BHLHE40/41 bind to open chromatin at promoters and enhancers of LXR:RXR and MiT/TFE family transcriptional factors, acting as transcriptional repressors and modulating cholesterol/lipid efflux genes and lysosomal genes, thereby influencing cellular clearance functions.

    “BHLHE40/41 bind to open chromatin at promoters and enhancers of LXR:RXR and MiT/TFE family transcriptional factors, acting as transcriptional repressors and modulating cholesterol/lipid efflux genes and lysosomal genes, thereby influencing cellular clearance functions (Figure 1 and Table 2) [53, 54].”

    From Targeting Microglial Transcriptional Reprogramming as a Therapy Strategy for Alzheimer's Disease (2026) · cites this paper as [54]

    Split into 2 atoms — 0 confirmed, 2 partially supported, 0 disputed, 0 misattributed, 0 unverifiable. Expand the claim to see per-atom verdicts.

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • PU.1, IRF8, and BHLHE40/41 regulate multiple downstream targets that orchestrate microglial immune response functions, including phagocytosis, cytokine production, and inflammatory signaling.

    “PU.1, IRF8, and BHLHE40/41 regulates multiple downstream targets that orchestrate microglial immune response functions, including phagocytosis, cytokine production, and inflammatory signaling”

    From Targeting Microglial Transcriptional Reprogramming as a Therapy Strategy for Alzheimer's Disease (2026) · cites this paper as [54]

    The Results section on BHLHE40/41 negative feedback (page not available in our copy) reports that BHLHE40/41 reduce expression of several TFEB-responsive genes, including IFI30 and GPNMB. The Results also identify innate-immune-response genes among TFEB targets. These passages do not establish the claimed roles for PU.1 or IRF8, or show that these regulators orchestrate microglial phagocytosis, cytokine production, and inflammatory signaling. (LLM, conf=0.85)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • MEF2C functions as a counterbalance by suppressing excessive pro-inflammatory responses.

    “MEF2C functions as a counterbalance by suppressing excessive pro‐inflammatory responses”

    From Targeting Microglial Transcriptional Reprogramming as a Therapy Strategy for Alzheimer's Disease (2026) · cites this paper as [54]

    The Results passages discuss TFEB-dependent innate immune gene expression, but do not address MEF2C or its effect on pro-inflammatory responses. Searches for “MEF2C” and its proposed suppression of pro-inflammatory responses found no supporting passage in our copy. The indexed passages provide section labels but no page numbers. (LLM, conf=0.73)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Carey, K. L., Paulus, G. L. C., Wang, L., Balce, D. R., Luo, J. W., Bergman, P., Ferder, I. C., Kong, L., Renaud, N., Singh, S., Kost-Alimova, M., Nyfeler, B., Lassen, K. G., Virgin, H. W., & Xavier, R. J.
Affiliations
  • Broad Institute (US)
  • Harvard University (US)
  • Washington University in St. Louis (US)
  • Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research (CH)
Corresponding author
Xavier, Ramnik J.
Venue
Cell Reports
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2020-11
Volume
33
Issue
6
Pages
108371
ISSN
2211-1247 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W3100411033
Cited by
55
References
95
Citations by year
2026: 9 · 2025: 16 · 2024: 10 · 2023: 8 · 2022: 8 · 2021: 4
FWCI
3.59
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Cell Reports (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
  • Digital Commons@Becker (Washington University School of Medicine) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • The Novartis Repository (Novartis) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • CONICET Digital (CONICET) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-sa)
Funders
National Institutes of Health
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Epidemiology › Autophagy in Disease and Therapy
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Physiology › Calcium signaling and nucleotide metabolism
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling in cancer
Keywords
TFEB, BHLHE40, BHLHE41, lysosomal biogenesis, autophagy, lysosomal cell death, negative feedback regulation, transcriptional regulation, mTOR inhibition, innate immunity, lysosomal dysfunction, CRISPR screen
MeSH terms
Cell Nucleus, HeLa Cells, Humans, Lysosomes, Mitochondria, Transcription, Genetic, Homeodomain Proteins, Basic Helix-Loop-Helix Leucine Zipper Transcription Factors, Basic Helix-Loop-Helix Transcription Factors, Basic Helix-Loop-Helix Proteins, Gene Knockout Techniques

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review