NR1D1 Inhibition Enhances Autophagy and Mitophagy in Alzheimer's Disease Models

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is marked by extracellular beta-amyloid (Aβ) plaques and intracellular Tau tangles, leading to progressive cognitive decline and neuronal dysfunction. Impaired autophagy, a process by which a cell breaks down and destroys damaged or abnormal proteins and other substances, contributes to AD progression. This study investigated Nuclear Receptor Subfamily 1 Group D Member 1 (NR1D1) as a potential therapeutic target for modulating autophagy. We show that NR1D1 depletion significantly enhances autophagic flux and mitophagy in human cell lines as well as wildtype and AD Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) models. Our findings revealed that NR1D1 knockdown increased autophagy markers and activated the proteins Sirtuin 1 (SIRT1) and CTSB cathepsin B (Cathepsin B), both linked to autophagy function. In 5 familial AD mutations (5xFAD) mice, Nr1d1 knockdown restored the expression level of autophagy markers. C. elegans experiments revealed that depletion of the worm ortholog of NR1D1, nhr-85, improved neuronal mitophagy, enhanced associative memory in amyloid-β models, and extended lifespan. These findings suggest NR1D1 as a promising therapeutic target for improving cellular autophagy mechanisms in AD.