Receptor-mediated endocytosis 8 (RME-8)/DNAJC13 is a novel positive modulator of autophagy and stabilizes cellular protein homeostasis

The cellular protein homeostasis (proteostasis) network responds effectively to insults. In a functional screen in C. elegans, we recently identified the gene receptor-mediated endocytosis 8 (rme-8; human ortholog: DNAJC13) as a component of the proteostasis network. Accumulation of aggregation-prone proteins, such as amyloid-β 42 (Aβ), α-synuclein, or mutant Cu/Zn-superoxide dismutase (SOD1), were aggravated upon the knockdown of rme-8/DNAJC13 in C. elegans and in human cell lines, respectively. DNAJC13 is involved in endosomal protein trafficking and associated with the retromer and the WASH complex. As both complexes have been linked to autophagy, we investigated the role of DNAJC13 in this degradative pathway. In knockdown and overexpression experiments, DNAJC13 acts as a positive modulator of autophagy. In contrast, the overexpression of the Parkinson’s disease-associated mutant DNAJC13(N855S) did not enhance autophagy. Reduced DNAJC13 levels affected ATG9A localization at and its transport from the recycling endosome. As a consequence, ATG9A co-localization at LC3B-positive puncta under steady-state and autophagy-induced conditions is impaired. These data demonstrate a novel function of RME-8/DNAJC13 in cellular homeostasis by modulating ATG9A trafficking and autophagy. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1007/s00018-020-03521-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.