Cited by 185Autophagy in Disease and TherapyAmyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis ResearchGenetics, Aging, and Longevity in Model Organisms

Loss of C9orf72 Enhances Autophagic Activity via Deregulated mTOR and TFEB Signaling

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Ugolino, Janet, Ji, Yon Ju, Conchina, Karen, Chu, Justin, Nirujogi, Raja Sekhar, Pandey, Akhilesh, Brady, Nathan R., Hamacher-Brady, Anne +1 more·2016·PLOS Genetics

Abstract

The most common cause of the neurodegenerative diseases amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and frontotemporal dementia is a hexanucleotide repeat expansion in C9orf72. Here we report a study of the C9orf72 protein by examining the consequences of loss of C9orf72 functions. Deletion of one or both alleles of the C9orf72 gene in mice causes age-dependent lethality phenotypes. We demonstrate that C9orf72 regulates nutrient sensing as the loss of C9orf72 decreases phosphorylation of the mTOR substrate S6K1. The transcription factor EB (TFEB), a master regulator of lysosomal and autophagy genes, which is negatively regulated by mTOR, is substantially up-regulated in C9orf72 loss-of-function animal and cellular models. Consistent with reduced mTOR activity and increased TFEB levels, loss of C9orf72 enhances autophagic flux, suggesting that C9orf72 is a negative regulator of autophagy. We identified a protein complex consisting of C9orf72 and SMCR8, both of which are homologous to DENN-like proteins. The depletion of C9orf72 or SMCR8 leads to significant down-regulation of each other's protein level. Loss of SMCR8 alters mTOR signaling and autophagy. These results demonstrate that the C9orf72-SMCR8 protein complex functions in the regulation of metabolism and provide evidence that loss of C9orf72 function may contribute to the pathogenesis of relevant diseases.

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  • c9orf72 knockout in mouse enhances autophagy by de-repressing MTOR and increasing TFEB nuclear translocation.

    “Paradoxically, however, c9orf72 knockout in mouse (which models the loss of function attributed to the hexanucleotide repeat expansion) enhances autophagy by de-repressing MTOR and, in turn, increasing TFEB nuclear translocation [179,180].”

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Authors
Ugolino, J., Ji, Y. J., Conchina, K., Chu, J., Nirujogi, R. S., Pandey, A., Brady, N. R., Hamacher-Brady, A., & Wang, J.
Affiliations
Johns Hopkins University (US)
Corresponding author
Wang, Jiou
Venue
PLOS Genetics
Published
2016-11-22
Volume
12
Issue
11
Pages
e1006443
ISSN
  • 1553-7390 (ISSN-L)
  • 1553-7404
OpenAlex
W2555959842
Cited by
185
References
60
Citations by year
2026: 8 · 2025: 7 · 2024: 16 · 2023: 15 · 2022: 11 · 2021: 29 · 2020: 37 · 2019: 22 · 2018: 22 · 2017: 18
FWCI
19.36
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • PLoS Genetics (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
  • Figshare (submittedVersion, cc-by)
Funders
  • National Institutes of Health (NS074324, NS089616)
  • The Robert Packard Center for ALS Research at Johns Hopkins
  • National Cancer Institute (5T32CA009110)
  • Maryland Technology Development Corporation (15075235)
  • U.S. Department of Defense (US) (W81XWH-15-1-0069)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Epidemiology › Autophagy in Disease and Therapy
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Neurology › Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Research
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Aging › Genetics, Aging, and Longevity in Model Organisms
Keywords
C9orf72, SMCR8, autophagy, mTOR signaling, TFEB, S6K1 phosphorylation, nutrient sensing, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, frontotemporal dementia, hexanucleotide repeat expansion, lysosomal function, protein complexes, metabolic regulation
MeSH terms
C9orf72 Protein, Alleles, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, Animals, Autophagy, Carrier Proteins, Gene Expression Regulation, Humans, Phenotype, Signal Transduction, Guanine Nucleotide Exchange Factors, Ribosomal Protein S6 Kinases, 90-kDa, DNA Repeat Expansion, Mice, Basic Helix-Loop-Helix Leucine Zipper Transcription Factors, Frontotemporal Dementia, TOR Serine-Threonine Kinases

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