A Fluorogenic-Based Assay to Measure Chaperone-Mediated Autophagic Activity in Cells and Tissues

Pathologies including cardiovascular diseases, cancer, and neurological disorders are caused by the accumulation of misfolded / damaged proteins. Intracellular protein degradation mechanisms play a critical role in the clearance of these disease-causing proteins. Chaperone mediated autophagy (CMA) is a protein degradation pathway that employs chaperones to bind proteins, bearing a unique KFERQ-like motif, for delivery to a CMA-specific Lysosome Associated Membrane Protein 2a (LAMP2a) receptor for lysosomal degradation. To date, steady-state CMA function has been assessed by measuring LAMP2A protein expression. However, this does not provide information regarding CMA degradation activity. To fill this dearth of tools / assays to measure CMA activity, we generated a CMA-specific fluorogenic substrate assay.

A KFERQ-AMC [Lys-Phe-Asp-Arg-Gln-AMC(7-amino-4-methylcou-marin)] fluorogenic CMA substrate was synthesized from Solid-Phase Peptide Synthesis. KFERQ-AMC, when cleaved via lysosomal hydrolysis, causes AMC to release and fluoresce (Excitation:355 nm, Emission:460 nm). Using an inhibitor of lysosomal proteases, i.e., E64D [L-trans-Epoxy-succinyl-leucylamido(4-guanidino)butane)], responsible for cleaving CMA substrates, the actual CMA activity was determined. Essentially, CMA activity = (substrate) To confirm specificity of the KFERQ sequence for CMA, negative control peptides were used.

Heart, liver, and kidney lysates containing intact lysosomes were obtained from 4-month-old adult male mice. First, lysates incubated with KFERQ-AMC displayed a time dependent (0-5 hour) increase in AMC fluorescence vs. lysates incubated with negative control peptides. These data validate the specificity of KFERQ for CMA. Of note, liver exhibited the highest CMA (6-fold; p<0.05) > kidney (2.4-fold) > heart (0.4-fold) at 5-hours. Second, E64D prevented KFERQ-AMC degradation, substantiating that KFERQ-AMC is degraded via lysosomes. Third, cleavage of KFERQ-AMC and resulting AMC fluorescence was inhibited in Human embryonic kidney (HEK) cells and H9c2 cardiac cells transfected with Lamp2a vs. control siRNA. Further, enhancing CMA using Lamp2a adenovirus upregulated KFERQ degradation. These data suggest that LAMP2A is required for KFERQ degradation. Conclusion. We have generated a novel assay for measuring CMA activity in cells and tissues in a variety of experimental contexts.