Cyclin-G-associated kinase GAK/dAux regulates autophagy initiation via ULK1/Atg1 in glia

Shiping Zhang, Shuanglong Yi, Linfang Wang, Shuhua Li, Honglei Wang, Li Song, Jiayao Ou, Min Zhang, Ruiqi Wang, Mengxiao Wang, Yuchen Zheng, Kai Yang, Tong Liu, Margaret S. Ho*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

5 Scopus citations

Abstract

Autophagy is a major means for the elimination of protein inclusions in neurons in neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s disease (PD). Yet, the mechanism of autophagy in the other brain cell type, glia, is less well characterized and remains largely unknown. Here, we present evidence that the PD risk factor, Cyclin-G-associated kinase (GAK)/Drosophila homolog Auxilin (dAux), is a component in glial autophagy. The lack of GAK/dAux increases the autophagosome number and size in adult fly glia and mouse microglia, and generally up-regulates levels of components in the initiation and PI3K class III complexes. GAK/dAux interacts with the master initiation regulator UNC-51like autophagy activating kinase 1/Atg1 via its uncoating domain and regulates the trafficking of Atg1 and Atg9 to autophagosomes, hence controlling the onset of glial autophagy. On the other hand, lack of GAK/dAux impairs the autophagic flux and blocks substrate degradation, suggesting that GAK/dAux might play additional roles. Importantly, dAux contributes to PD-like symptoms including dopaminergic neurodegeneration and locomotor function in flies. Our findings identify an autophagy factor in glia; considering the pivotal role of glia under pathological conditions, targeting glial autophagy is potentially a therapeutic strategy for PD.

Original languageEnglish
Article numbere2301002120
JournalProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Volume120
Issue number29
DOIs
StatePublished - 2023

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