Mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) signalling and macroautophagy (henceforth autophagy) regulate numerous pathological and physiological processes including cellular responses to altered nutrient levels. However, the mechanisms regulating mTOR and autophagy remain incompletely understood. Lysosomes are dynamic intracellular organelles 1, 2 intimately involved both in the activation of mTOR complex 1 (mTORC1) signalling and in degrading autophagic substrates 3-8. Here we report that lysosomal positioning coordinates anabolic and catabolic responses to changes in nutrient availability by orchestrating early plasma membrane signalling events, mTORC1 signalling and autophagy. Activation of mTORC1 by nutrients correlates with its presence on peripheral lysosomes that are physically close to the upstream signalling modules, while starvation causes perinuclear clustering of lysosomes, driven by changes in intracellular pH (pHi). Lysosomal positioning regulates mTORC1 signalling, which, in turn, influences autophagosome formation. Lysosome positioning also influences autophagosome-lysosome fusion rates, and thus controls autophagic flux by acting both at the initiation and termination stages of the process. Our findings provide a fundamental physiological role for the dynamic state of lysosomal positioning in cells as a coordinator of mTORC1 signalling with autophagic flux.

Autophagy is a major clearance route for intracellular aggregate-prone proteins causing diseases such as Huntington's disease. Autophagy induction with the mTOR inhibitor rapamycin accelerates clearance of these toxic substrates. As rapamycin has nontrivial side effects, we screened FDA-approved drugs to identify new autophagy-inducing pathways. We found that L-type Ca2+ channel antagonists, the K+ATP channel opener minoxidil, and the G(i) signaling activator clonidine induce autophagy. These drugs revealed a cyclical mTOR-independent pathway regulating autophagy, in which cAMP regulates IP3 levels, influencing calpain activity, which completes the cycle by cleaving and activating G(s)alpha, which regulates cAMP levels. This pathway has numerous potential points where autophagy can be induced, and we provide proof of principle for therapeutic relevance in Huntington's disease using mammalian cell, fly and zebrafish models. Our data also suggest that insults that elevate intracytosolic Ca2+ (like excitotoxicity) inhibit autophagy, thus retarding clearance of aggregate-prone proteins.

Autophagy is a catabolic process where lysosomes degrade intracytoplasmic contents transported in double-membraned autophagosomes. Autophagosomes are formed by elongation and fusion of phagophores, which derive from pre-autophagosomal structures. The membrane origins of autophagosomes are unclear and may involve multiple sources, including the endoplasmic reticulum and mitochondria. Here we show in mammalian cells that clathrin heavy-chain interacts with Atg16L1, and is involved in the formation of Atg16L1-positive early autophagosome precursors. Inhibition of clathrin-mediated internalisation reduced the formation of both Atg16L1-positive precursors and mature autophagosomes, while Atg16L1 associated with clathrin-coated structures. We tested and demonstrated that the plasma membrane (PM) directly contributes to the formation of early Atg16L1-positive autophagosome precursors. This may be particularly important during periods of increased autophagosome formation, as the plasma membrane may serve as a large membrane reservoir that allows cells periods of autophagosome synthesis at levels many-fold higher than under basal conditions, without compromising other processes.

Most lysosomal storage disorders (LSDs) are caused by deficiencies of lysosomal hydrolases. While LSDs were among the first inherited diseases for which the underlying biochemical defects were identified, the mechanisms from enzyme deficiency to cell death are poorly understood. Here we show that lysosomal storage impairs autophagic delivery of bulk cytosolic contents to lysosomes. By studying the mouse models of two LSDs associated with severe neurodegeneration, multiple sulfatase deficiency (MSD) and mucopolysaccharidosis type IIIA (MPSIIIA), we observed an accumulation of autophagosomes resulting from defective autophagosome-lysosome fusion. An impairment of the autophagic pathway was demonstrated by the inefficient degradation of exogenous aggregate-prone proteins (i.e. expanded huntingtin and mutated alpha-synuclein) in cells from LSD mice. This impairment resulted in massive accumulation of polyubiquitinated proteins and of dysfunctional mitochondria which are the putative mediators of cell death. These data identify LSDs as 'autophagy disorders' and suggest the presence of common mechanisms in the pathogenesis of these and other neurodegenerative diseases.