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RagD auto-activating mutations impair MiT/TFE activity in kidney tubulopathy and cardiomyopathy syndrome.

Irene SambriMarco FernianiGiulia CampostriniMarialuisa TestaViviana MeravigliaMariana E G de AraujoLadislav DokládalClaudia VilardoJlenia MonfregolaNicolina ZampelliFrancesca Del Vecchio BlancoAnnalaura TorellaCarolina RuosiSimona FecarottaGiancarlo ParentiLeopoldo StaianoMilena BellinLukas A HuberClaudio De VirgilioFrancesco TrepiccioneVincenzo NigroAndrea Balabio
Published in: Nature communications (2023)
Heterozygous mutations in the gene encoding RagD GTPase were shown to cause a novel autosomal dominant condition characterized by kidney tubulopathy and cardiomyopathy. We previously demonstrated that RagD, and its paralogue RagC, mediate a non-canonical mTORC1 signaling pathway that inhibits the activity of TFEB and TFE3, transcription factors of the MiT/TFE family and master regulators of lysosomal biogenesis and autophagy. Here we show that RagD mutations causing kidney tubulopathy and cardiomyopathy are "auto- activating", even in the absence of Folliculin, the GAP responsible for RagC/D activation, and cause constitutive phosphorylation of TFEB and TFE3 by mTORC1, without affecting the phosphorylation of "canonical" mTORC1 substrates, such as S6K. By using HeLa and HK-2 cell lines, human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes and patient-derived primary fibroblasts, we show that RRAGD auto-activating mutations lead to inhibition of TFEB and TFE3 nuclear translocation and transcriptional activity, which impairs the response to lysosomal and mitochondrial injury. These data suggest that inhibition of MiT/TFE factors plays a key role in kidney tubulopathy and cardiomyopathy syndrome.
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