Targeted Degradation of Alpha-Synuclein by Autophagosome-Anchoring Chimera Peptides

J Med Chem. 2023 Sep 14;66(17):12614-12628. doi: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.3c01303. Epub 2023 Aug 31.

Abstract

Targeted protein degradation (TPD) confers knockdown of "undruggable" targets such as alpha-synuclein (αSyn), a pathogenic protein in multiple neurodegenerative diseases. Though many of these proteins were mainly degraded through the autophagy-lysosome pathway (ALP), few TPD tools harnessing the ALP were reported. Herein, we developed a strategy termed autophagosome-anchoring chimera (ATACC), in which the protein of interest (POI) can be anchored to microtubule-associated protein-1 light chain-3B (LC3B) on the autophagosome with the assistance of an LC3-interacting region (LIR)-containing bifunctional peptide, and the selective autophagy of the POI is thus facilitated. A series of αSyn-targeting ATACC peptides were designed and synthesized. Biological evaluations demonstrated that these compounds could degrade αSyn specifically and effectively through a "chemical-induced cargo recognition-ALP degradation" mechanism. The neuroprotective effects of ATACC peptide P1 were further validated in vitro and in vivo. Collectively, our results provided a new TPD tool and revealed a potential therapeutic strategy against synucleinopathies.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Autophagosomes
  • Autophagy
  • Humans
  • Peptides / pharmacology
  • Synucleinopathies*
  • alpha-Synuclein*

Substances

  • alpha-Synuclein
  • Peptides