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Sephin1 rewires proteostasis through actin-dependent signaling

Frapporti, G.; Capuozzo, A.; Colombo, E.; Fioretti, P.; D'Amore, V. M.; Di Leva, F. S.; Lama, A.; Tripathi, V.; Medaglia, S.; Waich, S.; Montani, C.; Perez-Carrion, M. D.; Marte, A.; Onofri, F.; Gloeckner, C. J.; Marinelli, L.; Seneci, P.; Hess, M. W.; Medina, D. L.; Piccoli, G.

2026-04-21 cell biology
10.64898/2026.04.20.719601 bioRxiv
Show abstract

The maintenance of protein homeostasis is vital for all cells. Alteration in protein handling underlies several diseases. The small molecule sephin1 is a promising clinical candidate against proteostasis disruption, but its mechanism of action is still uncertain. Our experimental evidence shows that sephin1 binds G-actin and drives actin cytoskeleton misfolding, and eventually, Golgi disintegration. At first, sephin1 impairs the autophagic flux and elicits the phosphorylation of the subunit of eIF2 and the ER-stress independent expression of CHOP via GCN2 kinase. Sephin1 also inhibits the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTORC1), activates the transcription Factor EB (TFEB), drives the expression of TFEB-direct target genes, and eventually stimulates the autophagy lysosomal pathway. Our results reveal that the actin cytoskeleton may regulate autophagy via mTORC1-TFEB complemented with the GCN2-eIF2-CHOP signaling pathway.

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