Patent Application
20140038920
The invention refers to TFEB phosphorylation inhibitors. Such molecules have a therapeutic applicability in all disorders that need induction of the cell authophagic/lysosomal system, such as lysosomal storage disorders, neurodegenerative diseases, hepatic diseases, muscle diseases and metabolic diseases.
Autophagy is a catabolic process that relies on the cooperation of two distinct types of cellular organelles, autophagosomes and lysosomes (1). During starvation the cell expands both compartments to enhance degradation and recycling processes.
The lysosome maintains cellular homeostasis and mediates a variety of physiological processes, including cellular clearance, lipid homeostasis, energy metabolism, plasma membrane repair, bone remodeling, and pathogen defense. All these processes require an adaptive and dynamic response of the lysosome to environmental cues. Indeed, physiologic cues, such as aging and diet, and pathologic conditions, which include lysosomal storage diseases (LSDs), neurodegenerative diseases, injuries and infections may generate an adaptive response of the lysosome (34, 35, 36).
The understanding of the mechanisms that regulate lysosomal function and underlying lysosomal adaptation is still in an initial phase. A major player in the regulation of lysosomal biogenesis is the basic Helix-Loop-Helix (bHLH) leucine zipper transcription factor, TFEB (2). Among the identified TFEB transcriptional targets are lysosomal hydrolases, which are involved in substrate degradation, lysosomal membrane proteins that mediate the interaction of the lysosome with other cellular structures, and components of the vacuolar H+-ATPase (vATPase) complex, which participate to lysosomal acidification (37, 2).
WO2010/092112 refers to molecules able to enhance the cellular degradative pathway acting on the so called CLEAR element; among them TFEB is listed.
WO2010/044885 refers to mTOR modulators.
The applicants showed that during starvation the cell activated a transcriptional program that controls major steps of the autophagic pathway, including autophagosome formation, autophagosome-lysosome fusion and substrate degradation. The transcription factor EB (TFEB), a previously identified master gene for lysosomal biogenesis (2), coordinates this program by driving expression of both autophagy and lysosomal genes. TFEB is a main player in the transcriptional response to starvation and controls autophagy by positively regulating autophagosome formation and autophagosome-lysosome fusion both in vitro and in vivo.
The applicants found that nuclear localization and activity of TFEB are regulated by specific serine phosphorylations. Similar to starvation, pharmacological or gene mutation based inhibition of specific phosphorylation induces autophagy by activating TFEB. These data unveil a novel, kinase-dependent, mechanism involved in the regulation of the lysosomal-autophagic pathway by controlling the biogenesis and partnership of two cooperating cellular organelles.
The applicants found that pharmacological inhibition of TFEB phosphorylation can be used in vivo to activate the lysosomal and autophagic system of the cells and thus it represents a tool to treat different pathologic conditions.
TFEB activity and its nuclear translocation correlate with its phosphorylation status. In particular phosphorylation of TFEB by mTORC1 inhibits TFEB activity when nutrients are present. Conversely, pharmacological inhibition of mTORC1, as well as starvation and lysosomal dysruption, activates TFEB by promoting its nuclear translocation. In addition, the transcriptional response of lysosomal and autophagic genes to either lysosomal dysfunction or pharmacological inhibition of mTORC1 is suppressed in TFEB−/− cells.
This is even more surprising in view of Peña-Lopis et al. that found that mTOR was able to phosphorylate TFEB but reached an opposite conclusion (38), indicating that mTOR-mediated phosphorylation of TFEB promoted nuclear translocation and consequently inhibiting mTOR resulted in the inhibition of TFEB activity.
Finally applicants showed that pharmacological activation of the TFEB regulatory network can be exploited to promote cellular clearance in disorders due to the accumulation of toxic molecules, such as Lysosomal Storage Disorder and common neurodegenerative diseases.
Therefore it is an object of the invention an inhibitor of TFEB phosphorylation for medical use. Preferably the inhibitor of TFEB phosphorylation according to the invention acts on a kinase of the pathway of the TFEB phosphorylation, more preferably the kinase is mTOR and/or PI3K. Examples of such inhibitors are those belonging to the group of compounds listed in Table 4 par.1 PI3K-mTOR pathway.
In an alternative embodiment the inhibitor acts inhibiting a kinase that directly phosphorylates TFEB molecule, preferably a serine specific Extracellular Regulated Kinase (ERK), more preferably the ERK2 kinase. Examples of such inhibitors are those belonging to the group of compounds listed in Table 4 par. 2 Ras-ERK pathway.
In an alternative embodiment the inhibitor acts inhibiting a Mitogen activated protein kinase. Examples of such inhibitors are those belonging to the group of compounds listed in Table 4 par. 3 Mitogen activated protein kinases.
In an alternative embodiment the inhibitor acts inhibiting an Aurora kinase. Examples of such inhibitors are those belonging to the group of compounds listed in Table 4 par. 4 Aurora kinases.
In an alternative embodiment the inhibitor acts inhibiting a Receptor Tyrosine kinase. Examples of such inhibitors are those belonging to the group of compounds listed in Table 4 par. 5 Receptor Tyrosine kinases.
In an alternative embodiment the inhibitor acts inhibiting a Polo-like kinase. Examples of such inhibitors are those belonging to the group of compounds listed in Table 4 par. 6 Polo-like kinases.
In an alternative embodiment the inhibitor acts inhibiting a kinase belonging to the JAK-STAT pathway. Examples of such inhibitors are those belonging to the group of compounds listed in Table 4 par. 7 JAK-STAT pathway.
In an alternative embodiment the inhibitor acts inhibiting a cyclin dependent kinase. Examples of such inhibitors are those belonging to the group of compounds listed in Table 4 par. 8 cyclin dependent kinases.
In an alternative embodiment the inhibitor acts inhibiting a kinase belonging to the Wnt signaling pathway. Examples of such inhibitors are those belonging to the group of compounds listed in Table 4 par. 9 Wnt signaling pathway.
In an alternative embodiment the inhibitor acts inhibiting a Src family kinase. Examples of such inhibitors are those belonging to the group of compounds listed in Table 4 par. 10 Src family kinases.
In an alternative embodiment the inhibitor acts inhibiting a kinase belonging to the family of Protein kinases C. Examples of such inhibitors are those belonging to the group of compounds listed in Table 4 par. 11 Protein kinase C family.
The inhibitor of TFEB phosphorylation as above disclosed is advantageously used in the treatment of a disorder that needs the induction of the cell authophagic/lysosomal system, preferably for use in the treatment of any of the following pathologies: lysosomal storage disorders, neurodegenerative diseases, hepatic diseases, muscle diseases and metabolic diseases.
Examples of lysosomal storage disorder are: activator deficiency/GM2 gangliosidosis, alpha-mannosidosis, aspartylglucosaminuria, cholesteryl ester storage disease, chronic hexosaminidase A deficiency, cystinosis, Danon disease, Fabry disease, Farber disease, fucosidosis, galactosialidosis, Gaucher disease (including Type I, Type II, and Type III), GM1 gangliosidosis (including infantile, late infantile/juvenile, adult/chronic), I-cell disease/mucolipidosis II, infantile free sialic acid storage disease/ISSD, juvenile hexosaminidase A deficiency, Krabbe disease (including infantile onset, late onset), metachromatic leukodystrophy, pseudo-Hurler polydystrohpy/mucolipidosis IIIA, MPS I Hurler syndrome, MPS I Scheie syndrome, MPS I Hurler-Scheie syndrome, MPS II Hunter syndrome, Sanfilippo syndrome type AMPS IIIA, Sanfilippo syndrome type B/MPS IIIB, Morquio type AMPS IVA, Morquio Type B/MPS IVB, MPS IX hyaluronidase deficiency, Niemann-Pick disease (including Type A, Type B, and Type C), neuronal ceroidlipofuscinoses (including CLN6 disease, atypical late infantile, late onset variant, early juvenile Baten-Spielmeyer-Vogt/juvenile NCL/CLN3 disease, Finnish variant late infantile CLN5, Jansky-Bielschowsky disease/late infantile CLN2/TPP1 disease, Kufs/adult-onset NCL/CLN4 disease, northern epilepsy/variant late infantile CLN8, and Santavuori-Haltia/infantile CLN1/PPT disease), beta-mannosidosis, Pompe disease/glycogen storage disease type II, pycnodysostosis, Sandhoff disease/adult onset/GM2 gangliosidosis, Sandhoff disease/GM2 gangliosidosis infantile, Sandhoff disease/GM2 gangliosidosis juvenile, Schindler disease, Salla disease/sialic acid storage disease, Tay-Sachs/GM2 gangliosidosis, Wolman disease, Multiple Sulfatase Deficiency.
Examples of hepatic diseases are: Alpha1 antitrypsin deficiency and Fatty liver disease.
Examples of muscle diseases are: Autophagic Vacuolar Myopathies and X-linked myopathy with excessive autophagy.
Examples of metabolic diseases are: hypercholesterolemy and fatty liver disease.
Examples of neurodegenerative diseases are: Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, and spinocerebellar ataxia.
It is a further object of the invention the use of the above disclosed inhibitors of TFEB phosphorylation for increasing the productivity of cells producing endogeneous or recombinant lysosomal enzymes.
It is a further object of the invention a method of producing lysosomal endogeneous or recombinant enzymes comprising: (1) contacting the inhibitor of TFEB phosphorylation as above disclosed with the autophagic/lysosomal system in a cell; (2) inducing said autophagic/lysosomal system; and (3) increasing production of said lysosomal enzymes.
It is a further object of the invention a method of treating a disorder by administering to a subject a therapeutically effective amount of the inhibitor of TFEB phosphorylation as above disclosed. Preferably the disorder is alleviated by the induction of the cell authophagic/lysosomal system. More preferably the disorder is selected from the group comprising lysosomal storage disorders, neurodegenerative diseases, hepatic diseases, muscle diseases and metabolic diseases. Examples of such disorders were above provided.
In a preferred embodiment the method of treating a disorder according to the invention comprises the steps of: (1) administering an inhibitor as above disclosed; (2) inducing the autophagic/lysosomal system in a cell; and (3) increasing cellular clearance.
The invention will be described in experimental and non-limiting examples.
HeLa and COS and HEK-293T cells were purchased from ATCC. Cells were cultured in the following media: (normal) DMEM high glucose supplemented with 10% FBS; (starvation) HBSS media with Ca and Mg supplemented with 10 mM HEPES; (Serum) EBSS supplemented with 20% FBS; (amino acid media) Glucose and serum free DMEM; Drugs treatment: Rapamycin (2.5 mg/ml, SIGMA) 2-4 h otherwise indicated; Bafilomycin, (400 nM, SIGMA) 2-4 h; Insulin (100 ng/ml SIGMA) for 2 h; EGF, FGF (BD biosciences); LIF (100 ng/ml; ESGRO, Millipore) 2 h; PMA (1 m/ml) 2 h. U0126 (MEKi) were used at 25 mM (Cell Signaling), API2 (AKT inhibitor) were used at 1 mM. Lysosomal inhibitors were pepstatin and E64 (10 mg/ml 4 h SIGMA). The following drugs were used in experiments of
Primary hepatocytes were generated as follow: 2-month-old mice were deeply anaesthetized with Avertin (240 mg/kg) and perfused first with 25 ml of HBSS (Sigma H6648) supplemented with 10 mM HEPES and 0.5 mM EGTA and after with a similar solution containing 100 U/ml of Collagenase (Wako) and 0.05 mg/ml of Trypsin inhibitor (Sigma). Liver was dissociated in a petri dish, cell pellet was washed in HBSS and plated at density of 5×105 cells/35 mm dish and cultured in William's medium E supplemented with 10% FBS, 2 mM glutamine, 0.1 mM Insulin, 0.1 mM Dexamethasone and pen/strep. The next day, cells were treated as described in the text. Sin1−/− and control MEFs were generated as previously described (53) and maintained in DMEM supplemented with 10% FBS, glutamine and pen/strep.
The applicants used publicly available embryonic stem (ES) cell clones (http://www.eucomm.org/) in which Tcfeb was targeted by homologous recombination at exons 4 and 5. The recombinant ES cell clones were injected into blastocysts, which were used to generate a mouse line carrying the engineered allele. Liver-specific KO was generated crossing the Flox/Flox mice with a transgenic line expressing the CRE under the Albumin promoter (ALB-CRE) obtained from the Jackson laboratory. All procedures involving mice were approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee of the Baylor College of Medicine.
Transfection, Plasmids and siRNA
Both plasmids and siRNA were transfected with lipofectamine LTX (Invitrogen) using a reverse transfection protocols. siRNA-transfected cells were collected after 48 or 72 h. siRNA TFEB were used at 50 nM (Dharmacon), siRNA ERK1/2 were used at 100 nM (Cell Signaling).
Cells were transiently transfected with DNA plasmids pRK5-mycPAT1, pCEP4-TFEB-his, pC1G2-TFEB, and p3×FLAG-CMVTFEB using lipofectamine2000 or LTX (Invitrogen) according to the protocol from manufacturer. Site-direct mutagenesis was performed according to the manufacturer instructions (Stratagene) verifying the correct mutagenesis by sequencing.
Cells or tissues were solubilized in RIPA buffer supplemented with protease (ROCHE) and Phosphatase (SIGMA) inhibitors. From 10 to 30 micrograms were loaded on 4-12% Bis-Tris gel (NUPAGE, Invitrogen), transferred to PVDF membranes and analyzed by western blot using the ECL method (Pierce). The following antibodies were used: LC3 (Novus Biological), FLAG, b-ACTIN, TUBULIN (SIGMA), HA (Covance), H3, ERK1/2, p-ERK1/2, p-AKT, p-70S6K (Cell Signaling), ERK2 (Santa Cruz). Protein levels were quantified by using ImageJ software analysis.
Cells were seeded at 50% of confluence in 6 well dishes and serum starved overnight (ON). Normal medium was added the following day either in presence of DMSO or kinase inhibitors. Subcellular fractionation was carried out as previously reported. Briefly, cells were lysed in 0.5 Triton X-100 lysis buffer (50 mM Tris-HCl, 0.5% triton, 137.5 mM NaCl, 10% glycerol, 5 mM EDTA supplemented with fresh protease and phosphatase inhibitors. Supernatant represented cytosolic fraction while nuclear pellet was washed twice and lysed in 0.5 Triton X-100 buffer 0.5% SDS and sonicated.
Sub-confluent cells were incubated with L-U14C-serine for 20 h and chased for 1 h with cold media to degrade short-lived proteins. Subsequently cells were incubated with either normal media or starvation media (eventually in the presence of 3-MA) for 4 h. The rate of long-lived protein degradation was calculated from the ratio of soluble radioactivity in the media to that insoluble in the acid-precipitable cell pellet.
Total RNA was extracted from tissues using TRIzol (Invitrogen) or from cells using RNAesy column (Qiagen). Reverse transcription was performed using TaqMan reverse transcription reagents (Applied Biosystems). Lysosomal and autophagic gene specific primers were previously reported2. Autophagy gene primers and mouse primers were purchased from SABiosciences. Fold change calculations were calculated using SABiosciences' online data analysis web site (http://www.sabiosciences.com/pcr/arrayanalysis.php) which uses the DDCt method. In brief, the average of the most stable housekeeping genes (GAPDH, ACTB, B2M, RPL13A, HPRT and Cyclophillin) were used as “normalizer” genes to calculate the DCt value. Next, the DDCt value is calculated between the “control” group and the “experimental” group. Lastly, the fold change is calculated using 2(-DDCt). Biological replicates were grouped to allow calculating the fold change values. Unpaired T-Test was used to calculate statistical significance. Asterisks in the graph indicate that the P-value was <0.05.
The applicants used five methods including CrPhos0.8, GPS-2.1, PhosphoMotifFinder, Networkin and PHOSIDA (15-19) using the default parameters. They further filtered CrPhos0.8 and GPS-2.1 predictions according to their confidence scores. For the former, we took into account the predictions with a false positive rate (FPR) equals or less than 30%. For the latter, they considered the predictions with score equals or higher than 5. GPS-2.1 scores were calculated as the difference between actual score and threshold values. We took all the predictions from other three methods. In the case of Networkin, we combined predictions from both Networkin and Networkin 2. Each method describes the kinases associated by S142 site in a different kinase classification, which simply involves four hierarchical levels: kinase group, kinase family, kinase subfamily and kinase itself. To obtain a general consensus in each hierarchical level, we classified each prediction in these four hierarchical levels, if the predictions were not already classified in that manner. They searched for the missing classifications at the http://kinase.org/kinbase database under vertebrate Glade and human species. Consensus in each classification is found according to the majority vote in each classification.
TFEB-S-142: aa. o 117-166 of Seq Id No. 2: PPPAASPGVRAGHVLSSSAGNSAPNSPMAMLHIGSNPERELDDVIDNIMR and TFEB-A-142: Seq Id No. 4, corresponding to aa. of 117-166 of Seq Id No. 2 where Ser 142 was substituted with Ala (bold): PPPAASPGVRAGHVLSSSAGNSAPNAPMAMLHIGSNPERELDDVIDNIMR were synthesized by GENESCRIPT corp. The test peptides TFEB-A-142 and TFEB-S-142 were made up to 1 mM in 50 mM HEPES pH7. There appeared to be no issue with dissolution. The kinase assay was performed at room temperature for 40 minutes at 200 μM ATP and 100 μM of each peptide, using Millipore's standard radiometric assay. All protein kinases were used at their standard KinaseProfiler™ assay concentration. Following incubation, all assays were stopped by the addition of acid and an aliquot spotted onto P30 and Filtermat A to separate products. All tests were carried out in triplicate, and the usual substrate for each protein kinase included as a control.
The mice were housed in the transgenic mouse facility of Baylor College of Medicine (Houston, Tex., USA). GFP-LC3 transgenic mice were a kind gift of N. Mizushima. C57B6 female mice (4 weeks old) were used, if not otherwise specified. The AAV vector was produced by the TIGEM AAV Vector Core Facility. Briefly, the mouse TFEB (TcFEB) coding sequence was cloned into the pAAV2.1-CMV-GFP plasmid by replacing the GFP sequence and fused in frame with a HA tag. The resulting pAAV2.1-CMV-TcFEB-HA was then triple transfected in sub-confluent 293 cells along with the pAd-Helper and the pack2/9 packaging plasmids. The recombinant AAV2/9 vectors were purified by two rounds of CsCl. Vector titers, expressed as genome copies (GC/mL), were assessed by both PCR quantification using TaqMan (Perkin-Elmer, Life and Analytical Sciences, Waltham, Mass.) and by dot blot analysis. Each mouse was retro-orbital injected with 1.25×1011 viral particle and sacrificed after 3 weeks. Starved mice were food-deprived for 16 h when analyzed for gene expression, or for 24 h when analyzed for GFP-LC3 dots number.
Liver samples were collected and fixed overnight in 4% paraformaldehyde in PBS. After cryoprotection in 10 and 30% sucrose in PBS, the specimens were frozen in OCT (Sakura Finetech, Torrance, Calif.) and sectioned 30 μm thick. Images were taken on an Axioplan2 (Zeiss, Thorwood, N.Y.). For immunofluorescence, slices were blocked for 2 h at RT in 2.5% BSA in PBS+0.1% Triton X-100. After blocking, specimens were incubated for 20 h with the primary antibody and, after 3× washes in PBS+0.05% TX-100, for 3 h with secondary antibodies conjugated either with Alexafluor 488 or Alexafluor 555 (Invitrogen). For immunohistochemistry analyses of HA the avidin-biotin complex (ABC) method was used (Vectastain Elite ABC kit). Anti-GFP was from Abcam; (diluition 1:500)
Control and TFEB-overexpressing cells were washed with PBS, and fixed in 1% glutaraldehyde dissolved in 0.2 M Hepes buffer (pH 7.4) for 30 min at room temperature. The cells were then postfixed for 2 h in OsO4. After dehydration in graded series of ethanol, the cells were embedded in Epon 812 (Fluka) and polymerized at 60° C. for 72 h. Thin sections were cut at the Leica EM UC6, counterstained with uranyl acetate and lead citrate. EM images were acquired from thin sections using a Philips Tecnai-12 electron microscope equipped with an ULTRA VIEW CCD digital camera (Philips, Eindhoven, The Netherlands). Quantification of vacuolization was performed using the AnalySIS software (Soft Imaging Systems GmbH, Munster, Germany). Selection of cells for quantification was based on their suitability for stereologic analysis, i.e. only cells sectioned through their central region (detected on the basis of the presence of Golgi membranes) were analyzed.
All procedures involving mice were approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee of the Baylor College of Medicine. GFP-LC3 transgenic line was described previously. Tissue specific overexpression of Tcfeb was generated as follows: Tcfeb-3×Flag cDNA was inserted after a CAGCAT cassette [chicken actin promoter (CAG) followed by chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (CAT) cDNA flanked by 2 loxP sites] and used to generate transgenic mice (Baylor College of Medicine transgenic core). Mice were then crossed with Albumin-CRE (obtaine from the Jackson laboratory) line. For 48 Starvation protocol the mice were food deprived for 22 h, subsequently were fed for 2 h and fasted again for 24 h prior sacrifice.
Lysosomal enzymes acid phosphatase, beta-galactosidase, and beta-hexosaminidase activities were measured using the appropriate fluorimetric or colorimetric substrates. SGSH activity was measured following protocols described in Fraldi et al., Hum Mol Gen 2007 (33).
The mouse anti-TFEB monoclonal antibody was purchased from My Biosource catalogue No. MBS 120432. To generate anti-pS142 specific antibodies, rabbits were immunized with the following peptide coupled to KLH: AGNSAPN{pSer}PMAMLHIC. Following the fourth immunization, rabbits were sacrificed and the serum was collected. Non-phosphospecific antibodies were depleted from the serum by circulation through a column containing the nonphosphorylated antigene. The phosphospecific antibodies were subsequently purified using a column containing the phosphorylated peptide. Cells were lysed with M-PER buffer (Thermo) containing protease and phosphatase inhibitors (Sigma); nuclear/cytosolic fractions were isolated as above described. Proteins were separated by SDS-PAGE (Invitrogen; reduced NuPAGE 4-12% Bis-tris Gel, MES SDS buffer). If needed, the gel was stained using 20 ml Imperial Protein Stain (Thermo Fisher) at room temperature for 1 h and de-stained with water. Immunoblotting analysis was performed by transferring the protein onto a nitrocellulose membrane with an I-Blot (Invitrogen). The membrane was blocked with 5% non-fat milk in TBS-T buffer (TBS containing 0.05% Tween-20) and incubated with primary antibodies anti-FLAG and anti-TUBULIN (Sigma; 1:2000), anti-H3 (Cell Signaling; 1:10 000) at room temperature for 2 h whereas the following antibodies were incubated ON in 5% BSA: anti-TFEB (My Biosource; 1:1000), anti-P TFEB (1:1000) ERK1/2, p-ERK1/2, p-P70S6K, P70S6K (Cell Signaling; 1:1000). The membrane was washed three times with TBS-T buffer and incubated with alkaline phosphatase-conjugated IgG (Promega; 0.2 mg/ml) at room temperature for 1 h. The membrane was washed three times with TBS buffer and the expressed proteins were visualized by adding 10 ml Western Blue Stabilized Substrate (Promega).
TFEB-GFP cells were seeded in 384-well plates, incubated for 12 hours, and treated with ten different concentrations (50000 nM, 16666.66 nM, 5555.55 nM, 1851.85 nM, 617.28 nM, 205.76 nM, 68.58 nM, 22.86 nM, 22.86 nM, 7.62 nM, and 2.54 nM) of ERK inhibitor U0126 (Sigma-Aldrich) or mTOR inhibitors Rapamycin (Sigma-Aldrich), Torin 1, and Torin 2. After 3 hours at 37° C. in RPMI medium cells were washed, fixed, and stained with DAPI. For the acquisition of the images, ten pictures per each well of the 384-well plate were taken by using confocal automated microscopy (Opera high content system, Perkin Elmer). A dedicated script was developed to perform the analysis of TFEB localization on the different images (Acapella software, Perkin Elmer). The script calculates the ratio value resulting from the average intensity of nuclear TFEB-GFP fluorescence divided by the average of the cytosolic intensity of TFEB-GFP fluorescence. The results were normalized using negative (RPMI medium) and positive (HBSS starvation) control samples in the same plate. The data are represented by the percentage of nuclear translocation at the different concentrations of each compound using Prism software (GraphPad software). The EC50 for each compound was calculated using non-linear regression fitting (Prism software). Same method was used to screen a library of 145 kinase inhibitors.
Neuronal progenitor cells were isolated from cortices of WT and MSD pups (P0) by tissue homogenization using the neural tissue dissociation kit and separation using magnetic sorting of cells expressing the stem cell marker prominin-1 (Miltenyi Biotec Srl). Neuronal progenitor cells were maintained in ESGRO complete medium (Hyclone) in the presence of EGF and FGF2 growth factors (Prepotech). Where indicated, neural stem cells (NSCs) were differentiated by removing growth factors and incubate in ESGRO medium containing 2% of serum for at least 48 h.
Multiple Sulfatase Deficiency (MSD) mice were treated with placebo (n=3) or torin 2 (n=3) during 10 days (gavage-oral administration; 0.3 mg torin 2/day/mouse in 50% PEG400). During the treatment period the treated mice were monitored and weighted (no weight differences were observed after treatment), and all the mice treated survived. After the treatment liver tissues were collected and GAG accumulation was determined by alcian blue staining.
Neuronal progenitor cells were isolated from cortices of WT and MSD pups (P0) by using standard protocols. Neuronal stem cells (NSCs) were fixed in Methacarn (60% Methanol; 10% Acetic Acid; 30% Chloroform) for 15 min at RT. After washing the cells were stained for 3 hours in 1% alcian blue pH 2.5, rinsed in 0.3% acetic acid and water and mounted in 100% for visualization.
Sections of paraffin-embedded liver tissue were stained with 1% Alcian blue (Sigma-Aldrich) and counterstained with Nuclear-Fast red (Sigma-Aldrich).
Cells were washed with PBS, fixed in 0.05% glutaraldehyde, and dissolved in 0.2 M Hepes buffer (pH 7.4) for 30 min at room temperature. The cells were then post-fixed for 2 h in OsO4. After dehydration in graded series of ethanol, the cells were embedded in Epon 812 (Fluka) and polymerized at 60° C. for 72 h. Thin sections were cut at the Leica EM UC6, counterstained with uranyl acetate and lead citrate.
(Macro)autophagy is an evolutionary conserved mechanism that targets intracytoplasmic material to lysosomes, thus providing energy supply during nutrient starvation (3). Autophagy activation during starvation is regulated by mTOR, whose activity is dependent on cellular energy needs.
As autophagy is the result of a tight partnership between autophagosomes and lysosomes (1), the applicants tested whether TFEB, a transcription factor that controls lysosomal biogenesis, regulated autophagy. As TFEB exerts a positive control on lysosomal biogenesis and function (2) and on lysosomal exocytosis (
Consistent with these findings, RNA interference (RNAi) of TFEB in HeLa cells resulted in decreased levels of LC3II both in normal and starved conditions, either in the presence or absence of bafilomycin (
To test whether TFEB regulated the expression of autophagy genes, the applicants analyzed the mRNA levels of a group of 51 genes reported to be involved in several steps of the autophagic pathway (1, 12, 13). They observed that the enhancement of the expression levels of autophagy genes in cells overexpressing TFEB was very similar to the one obtained during starvation (HeLa cells 4 h in EBSS media) (Pearson correlation: r value=0.42; pvalue=0.001), while they were downregulated after TFEB silencing (
These data indicate that TFEB is involved in the transcriptional regulation of starvation-induced autophagy. This conclusion is strongly bolstered by the following observations. First, nutrient starvation induced an increased binding of TFEB to the promoters of both lysosomal and autophagy genes as measured by QChIP (
To identify the mechanism of starvation-induced activation of TFEB, the applicants analyzed its subcellular localization and post-translational modifications in starved cells. In normal conditions TFEB is localized to the cytoplasm (2). They observed that nutrient starvation (EBSS media) rapidly induced TFEB nuclear translocation (
To analyze more in detail the relationship between MAPK signaling and TFEB, the applicants performed a mass-spectrometry analysis and identified at least three serines (i.e. S142, 5332, and 5402) that were phosphorylated in nutrient rich medium but not in starved medium. They mutated each of these three serines to alanines to abolish phosphorylation. Mutant TFEB proteins were individually expressed into HeLa cells and TFEB nuclear translocation analyzed. The TFEB(S142A) mutant showed a significantly increased nuclear localization compared to TFEB(WT), TFEB(S332A) and TFEB(S402A) (
To identify the specific kinase responsible for the phosphorylation of serine 142, the applicants performed bioinformatic analyses using methods that are based on computational models built upon a set of experimentally validated phosphorylation sites (15-19) (see methods for details). Consistently with previous results, they identified the serine-specific Extracellular Regulated Kinases (ERKs) as the top-ranking candidates for the phosphorylation of serine 142 (Table 3). Interestingly, serine 142 is highly conserved in other members of the HLH-leucine zipper gene family, such as the Microphthalmia Transcription Factor (MITF) (
The applicants analyzed the physiological relevance of TFEB-mediated control of the lysosomal/autophagic pathway in vivo in GFP-LC3 transgenic mice (11). They focused studies on the liver, due to the reported autophagic response observed in liver upon nutrient depletion. In liver, the number of GFP-positive vesicles started to increase after 24 hrs of fasting, and peaked at 48 hrs (see mat and methods for 48 h starvation protocol) (
The applicants evaluated if TFEB was sufficient to induce autophagy in vivo using both viral- and transgene-mediated TFEB overexpression. GFP-LC3 transgenic mice (11) were injected systemically with an adeno-associated viral (AAV) vector containing the murine TcfebcDNA tagged with an HA epitope (AAV 2/9—Tcfeb-HA) (
TFEB subcellular localization was then analysed in HeLa and HEK-293T cells transiently transfected with a TFEB-3×FLAG plasmid and treated overnight with inhibitors of lysosomal function. These treatments included the use of chloroquine, an inhibitor of the lysosomal pH gradient, and Salicylihalamide A (SalA) a selective inhibitor of the v-ATPase (39). Immunoblotting performed after nuclear/cytoplasmic fractionation revealed that also lysosomal stress induced nuclear translocation of exogenously expressed TFEB and that again TFEB nuclear accumulation was associated with a shift of TFEB-3×FLAG to a lower molecular weight, suggesting that lysosomal stress may affect TFEB phosphorylation status (
Based on the observation that mTORC1 resides on the lysosomal membrane and its activity is dependent on both nutrient and lysosomal function (40, 41), the applicants postulated that the effects of lysosomal stress on TFEB nuclear translocation may be mediated by mTORC1. Consistent with this idea, chloroquine or Sa1A inhibited mTORC1 activity as measured by level of p-P70S6K, a known mTORC1 substrate (
Applicants stimulated starved cells, in which TFEB is dephosphorylated and localized to the nucleus, with an amino-acid rich medium supplemented with Torin 1 (250 nM), Rapamycin (2.5 μM), or ERK inhibitor U0126 (50 μM). Stimulation of starved cells with nutrients alone induced a significant TFEB molecular weight shift and re-localization to the cytoplasm (
As Torin 1 inhibits both mTORC1 and mTORC2 complexes, applicants next evaluated the contribution of each complex to TFEB regulation. Three main observations suggest that TFEB is predominantly regulated by mTORC1: (1) stimulation of starved cells with amino acids, which activate mTORC1 but not mTORC2, induced an extensive TFEB molecular weight shift, which is highly suggestive of a phosphorylation event (
mTORC1 Controls TFEB Subcellular Localization Via the Phosphorylation of S142
To test whether mTORC1 phosphorylates TFEB at S142, the applicants generated a phosphospecific antibody that recognizes TFEB only when phosphorylated at S142. Using this antibody, the applicants authors observed that TFEB was no longer phosphorylated at S142 in HeLa cells stably overexpressing TFEB-3×FLAG and cultured in nutrient-depleted media, consistent with the applicants' results above reported (
Subsequently, they analysed the levels of S142 phosphoryation in starved cells supplemented with normal media with or without either Torin 1 or Rapamycin. While Torin 1 clearly blunted nutrient-induced S142 phosphorylation, rapamycin did not, suggesting that S142 represents a rapamycin-resistant mTORC1 site (
Recent findings suggest that mTORC1 phosphorylates its target proteins at multiple sites (43, 44, 45). To identify additional serine residues that may be phosphorylated by mTOR, the applicants searched for consensus phosphoacceptor motif for mTORC1 (43) in the coding sequence of TFEB (
Together, these data indicate that, other than S142, S211 also plays a role in TFEB subcellular localization and suggest that S211 represents an additional target site of mTORC1.
As the interaction of TFEB with mTORC1 controls TFEB nuclear translocation, the applicants tested whether the ability of TFEB to regulate gene expression was also influenced by this interaction. The expression of several lysosomal/autophagic genes that were shown to be targets of TFEB (37) was tested in primary hepatocytes from a conditional knockout mouse line in which TFEB was deleted in the liver (Tcfebflox/flox; alb-CRE), and in a control mouse line (Tcfebflox/flox). Cells were treated with either chloroquine or Torin 1, or left untreated. These treatments inhibited mTOR as measured by the level of p-S6K, whereas the levels of p-ERK were unaffected (
Identification of Additional Kinase Inhibitors that Induce the Mobilization of Cytosolic TFEB to the Nucleus
In order to find additional small molecules able to induce the translocation of TFEB from the cytosol to the nucleus, the applicants developed a cell-based high content assay using stable HeLa cells overexpressing TFEB fused to the green fluorescent protein (TFEB-GFP). In the assay imaging of treated cells is acquired by an automated confocal microscope (OPERA system) and the analysis of those images with Acapella image software calculates the ratio of the average of fluorescence intensity of TFEB-GFP between the cytosol and nucleus of the cell (see Materials and methods for details). To validate the assay authors tested the ERK inhibitor U0126 and the mTOR inhibitors rapamycin, torin 1 and torin 2. (
The applicants tested whether TFEB phosphorylation inhibitors could be exploited to induce cellular clearance in Multiple Sulfatase Deficiency (MSD), a Lysosomal Storage Disorder with a severe neurodegenerative outcome due to the progressive accumulation of glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) in post-mitotic neurons and glial cells (49-51).
They evaluated the effects of Torin 1 and its analog Torin 2 on the clearance of GAGs in glia-differentiated NSCs and observed a striking reduction of alcian blue-stained GAGs (
Data indicate that pharmacological activation of the TFEB regulatory network can be exploited to promote cellular clearance in disorders due to the accumulation of toxic molecules, such as Lysosomal Storage Disorder and common neurodegenerative diseases.
Both transcriptional-dependent (24, 25) and independent mechanisms regulating autophagy have been described (26, 27). The study identifies novel, kinase-dependent, regulatory circuits that control multiple crucial steps of the autophagic pathway such as autophagosome formation, autophagosome-lysosome fusion and lysosome-mediated degradation of the autophagosomal content. Interestingly, the applicants observed that the transcriptional induction of the autophagic/lysosomal genes precedes autophagosome formation. It could be envisaged that such transcriptional-dependent mechanism ensures a more prolonged and sustained activation of autophagy.
Autophagy dysfunction has been linked to several genetic disorders (28-30) and previous studies showed that enhancement of autophagy has a therapeutic effect in animal models of neurodegenerative diseases and hepatic fibrosis (29, 31, 32).
The discovery of a novel mechanism that controls, at the transcriptional level, the lysosomal-autophagic pathway suggests novel approaches to modulate cellular clearance in these diseases. Furthermore, it provides a spin-off for therapeutic approaches based on lysosomal enzymes, suggesting new strategies for increasing the productivity of cell lines producing endogeneous or recombinant lysosomal enzymes (
Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient (PMCC) was obtained by comparing the gene expression profiles shown, i.e. TFEB stable overexpression vs. gene expression profiles of starved HeLa cells.
Down-regulated genes upon siRNA-mediated TFEB knock-down. Fold change represents the average of 4 independent experiments. Genes significantly down-regulated are indicated in red (p<0.05).
Results of the prediction of phosphorylation of S142 using five different methods. Methods are given in the first column. The second column indicates confidence score cutoff as described in methods, when available. The third column shows the actual format of prediction obtained by the corresponding method. The next four columns show the prediction in the kinase group, kinase family, kinase subfamily and kinase protein classifications, respectively.
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/EP2012/053928 | 3/7/2012 | WO | 00 | 10/3/2013 |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 61449751 | Mar 2011 | US | |
| 61579793 | Dec 2011 | US | |
| 61596485 | Feb 2012 | US |
