Impairment of chaperone-mediated autophagy induces dopaminergic neurodegeneration in rats

Chaperone-mediated autophagy (CMA) involves the selective lysosomal degradation of cytosolic proteins such as SNCA (synuclein α), a protein strongly implicated in Parkinson disease (PD) pathogenesis. However, the physiological role of CMA and the consequences of CMA failure in the living brain remain elusive. Here we show that CMA inhibition in the adult rat substantia nigra via adeno-associated virus-mediated delivery of short hairpin RNAs targeting the LAMP2A receptor, involved in CMA's rate limiting step, was accompanied by intracellular accumulation of SNCA-positive puncta, which were also positive for UBIQUITIN, and in accumulation of autophagic vacuoles within LAMP2A-deficient nigral neurons. Strikingly, LAMP2A downregulation resulted in progressive loss of nigral dopaminergic neurons, severe reduction in striatal dopamine levels/terminals, increased astro- and microgliosis and relevant motor deficits. Thus, this study highlights for the first time the importance of the CMA pathway in the dopaminergic system and suggests that CMA impairment may underlie PD pathogenesis.