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Autophagic dysfunction and gut microbiota dysbiosis cause chronic immune activation in a Drosophila model of Gaucher disease

Atilano, Magda L; Hull, Alexander; Romila, Catalina-Andreea; Adams, Mirjam L; Wildfire, Jacob; Ureña, Enric; Dyson, Miranda; ... Kinghorn, Kerri J; + view all (2023) Autophagic dysfunction and gut microbiota dysbiosis cause chronic immune activation in a Drosophila model of Gaucher disease. PLoS Genetics , 19 (12) , Article e1011063. 10.1371/journal.pgen.1011063. Green open access

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Abstract

Mutations in the GBA1 gene cause the lysosomal storage disorder Gaucher disease (GD) and are the greatest known genetic risk factors for Parkinson’s disease (PD). Communication between the gut and brain and immune dysregulation are increasingly being implicated in neurodegenerative disorders such as PD. Here, we show that flies lacking the Gba1b gene, the main fly orthologue of GBA1, display widespread NF-kB signalling activation, including gut inflammation, and brain glial activation. We also demonstrate intestinal autophagic defects, gut dysfunction, and microbiome dysbiosis. Remarkably, modulating the microbiome of Gba1b knockout flies, by raising them under germ-free conditions, partially ameliorates lifespan, locomotor and immune phenotypes. Moreover, we show that modulation of the immune deficiency (IMD) pathway is detrimental to the survival of Gba1 deficient flies. We also reveal that direct stimulation of autophagy by rapamycin treatment achieves similar benefits to germ-free conditions independent of gut bacterial load. Consistent with this, we show that pharmacologically blocking autophagosomal-lysosomal fusion, mimicking the autophagy defects of Gba1 depleted cells, is sufficient to stimulate intestinal immune activation. Overall, our data elucidate a mechanism whereby an altered microbiome, coupled with defects in autophagy, drive chronic activation of NF-kB signaling in a Gba1 loss-of-function model. It also highlights that elimination of the microbiota or stimulation of autophagy to remove immune mediators, rather than prolonged immunosuppression, may represent effective therapeutic avenues for GBA1-associated disorders.

Type: Article
Title: Autophagic dysfunction and gut microbiota dysbiosis cause chronic immune activation in a Drosophila model of Gaucher disease
Location: United States
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1011063
Publisher version: http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1011063
Language: English
Additional information: Copyright © 2023 Atilano et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences > Div of Biosciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences > Div of Biosciences > Genetics, Evolution and Environment
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10184549
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