Defective chaperone-mediated autophagy in the retinal pigment epithelium of age-related macular degeneration patients
Autophagy is one of the main intracellular recycling systems and its impairment is considered a primary hallmark of the aging process. Defective macroautophagy in the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) has been described in age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a blindness-causing disease that affec...
| Autores: | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Tipo de recurso: | artículo |
| Estado: | Versión publicada |
| Fecha de publicación: | 2025 |
| País: | España |
| Institución: | Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC) |
| Repositorio: | DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:digital.csic.es:10261/411389 |
| Acceso en línea: | http://hdl.handle.net/10261/411389 https://api.elsevier.com/content/abstract/scopus_id/105020194376 |
| Access Level: | acceso abierto |
| Palabra clave: | Age-related Macular degeneration Chaperone-mediated Autophagy Oxidative Stress Proteostasis |
| Sumario: | Autophagy is one of the main intracellular recycling systems and its impairment is considered a primary hallmark of the aging process. Defective macroautophagy in the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) has been described in age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a blindness-causing disease that affects roughly 200 million patients worldwide. The relevance of chaperone-mediated autophagy (CMA), a selective type of autophagy for proteins containing a KFERQ-like motif, in RPE cell biology and homeostasis remains to be elucidated. Here we describe decreased CMA activity in the RPE of AMD patients compared to healthy age-matched controls, along with accumulation of substrate proteins, and in donor-derived iPSC-RPE cells, which we used to further characterize AMD-associated alterations of cellular homeostasis derived from proteotoxicity. Treatment with CA77.1 (CMA activator) restores proteostasis and remodels specific subsets of the proteome in cells from healthy and AMD donors. CA77.1-treated AMD iPSC-RPE display reduced oxidative stress and improved mitochondrial function. These findings may explain the specific vulnerability of the RPE during AMD and shed light on CMA as a new druggable target for this as-of-now incurable disease. |
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