Schisandrol A protects AGEs-induced neuronal cells death by allosterically targeting ATP6V0d1 subunit of V-ATPase
Xiaoqing Zhou, Shaoyang Zhao, Tingting Liu, Yao Lu, Meimei Zhao, Xiaoming Ye, Xiaowen Zhang, Qiang Guo, Pengfei Tu, Ke‐Wu Zeng
Abstract
Diabetes have been shown to cause progressive neuronal injury with pain and numbness via advanced glycation end-products (AGEs)-induced neuronal cell apoptosis; however, the valuable drug targets for diabetic neuropathy have been poorly reported so far. In this study, we discovered a natural small-molecule schisandrol A (SolA) with significant protective effect against AGEs-induced neuronal cell apoptosis. ATP6V0D1, a major subunit of vacuolar-type ATPase (V-ATPase) in lysosome was identified as a crucial cellular target of SolA. Moreover, SolA allosterically mediated ATP6V0D1 conformation via targeting a unique cysteine 335 residue to activate V-ATPase-dependent lysosomal acidification. Interestingly, SolA-induced lysosome pH downregulation resulted in a mitochondrial–lysosomal crosstalk by selectively promoting mitochondrial BH3-only protein BIM degradation, thereby preserving mitochondrial homeostasis and neuronal cells survival. Collectively, our findings reveal ATP6V0D1 is a valuable pharmacological target for diabetes-associated neuronal injury via controlling lysosomal acidification, and also provide the first small-molecule template allosterically activating V-ATPase for preventing diabetic neuropathy.