Significance: This study shows that neurodegenerative changes induced by α-synuclein in midbrain dopamine neurons in vivo can be blocked through activation of the autophagy-lysosome pathway. Using an adeno-associated virus model of Parkinson disease to overexpress α-synuclein in the substantia nigra, we show that genetic [transcription factor EB (TFEB) and Beclin-1 overexpression] or pharmacological (rapalog) manipulations that enhance autophagy protect nigral neurons from α-synuclein toxicity, but inhibiting autophagy exacerbates α-synuclein toxicity. The results provide a mechanistic link between α-synuclein toxicity and impaired TFEB function, and identify TFEB as a target for therapies aimed at neuroprotection and disease modification in Parkinson disease.

We used in vivo amperometry to monitor changes in synaptic dopamine (DA) release in the striatum induced by overexpression of human wild-type α-synuclein in nigral DA neurons, induced by injection of an adeno-associated virus type 6 (AAV6)–α-synuclein vector unilaterally into the substantia nigra in adult rats. Impairments in DA release evolved in parallel with the development of degenerative changes in the nigrostriatal axons and terminals. The earliest change, seen 10 d after vector injection, was a marked, ≈50%, reduction in DA reuptake, consistent with an early dysfunction of the DA transporter that developed before any overt signs of axonal damage. At 3 wk, when the first signs of axonal damage were observed, the amount of DA released after a KCl pulse was reduced by 70–80%, and peak DA concentration was delayed, indicating an impaired release mechanism. At later time points, 8–16 wk, overall striatal innervation density was reduced by 60–80% and accompanied by abundant signs of axonal damage in the form of α-synuclein aggregates, axonal swellings, and dystrophic axonal profiles. At this stage DA release and reuptake were profoundly reduced, by 80–90%. The early changes in synaptic DA release induced by overexpression of human α-synuclein support the idea that early predegenerative changes in the handling of DA may initiate, and drive, a progressive degenerative process that hits the axons and terminals first. Synaptic dysfunction and axonopathy would thus be the hallmark of presymptomatic and early-stage Parkinson disease, followed by neuronal degeneration and cell loss, characteristic of more advanced stages of the disease.

The trophic response of dopamine neurons to GDNF, mediated by the transcription factor Nurr1, protects them from α-synuclein–mediated toxicity.

The neuroprotective effect of the glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor has been extensively studied in various toxic models of Parkinson’s disease. However, it remains unclear whether this neurotrophic factor can protect against the toxicity induced by the aggregation-prone protein α-synuclein. Targeted overexpression of human wild-type α-synuclein in the nigrostriatal system, using adeno-associated viral vectors, causes a progressive degeneration of the nigral dopamine neurons and the development of axonal pathology in the striatum. In the present study, we investigated, using different paradigms of delivery, whether glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor can protect against the neurodegenerative changes and the cellular stress induced by α-synuclein. We found that viral vector-mediated delivery of glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor into substantia nigra and/or striatum, administered 2–3 weeks before α-synuclein, was inefficient in preventing the wild-type α-synuclein-induced loss of dopamine neurons and terminals. In addition, glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor overexpression did not ameliorate the behavioural deficit in this rat model of Parkinson’s disease. Quantification of striatal α-synuclein-positive aggregates revealed that glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor had no effect on α-synuclein aggregation. These data provide the evidence for the lack of neuroprotective effect of glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor against the toxicity of human wild-type α-synuclein in an in vivo model of Parkinson’s disease. The difference in neuroprotective efficacy of glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor seen in our model and the commonly used neurotoxin models of Parkinson’s disease, raises important issues pertinent to the interpretation of the results obtained in preclinical models of Parkinson’s disease, and their relevance for the therapeutic use glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor in patients with Parkinson’s disease.