Inhibition of lysosomal LAMTOR1 increases autophagy by suppressing the MTORC1 pathway to ameliorate lipid accumulations in MAFLD.

Metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) is a serious metabolic disorder characterized by fat accumulation in the liver, which can trigger liver inflammation and fibrosis, potentially leading to cirrhosis or liver cancer. Despite many studies, effective treatments for MAFLD remain elusive due to its complex etiology. In this study, we have focused on the discovery of therapeutic agents and molecular targets for MAFLD treatment. We demonstrated that the natural compound acacetin (ACA) alleviates MAFLD by regulating macroautophagy/autophagy in a CDAHFD mouse model of rapidly induced steatohepatitis. In addition, ACA inhibits lipid accumulation in 3T3-L1 adipocytes through autophagy induction. To identify the target responsible for the autophagy activity induced by ACA, we performed drug affinity responsive target stability (DARTS) combined with LC-MS/MS proteomic analysis. This led to the identification of LAMTOR1 (late endosomal/lysosomal adaptor, MAPK and MTOR activator 1), a lysosomal membrane adaptor protein. We found that binding of ACA to LAMTOR1 induces its release from the LAMTOR complex, leading to inhibition of MTOR (mechanistic target of rapamycin kinase) complex 1 (MTORC1), thereby increasing autophagy. This process helps ameliorate metabolic disorders by modulating the MTORC1-AMPK axis. Genetic knockdown of LAMTOR1 phenocopies the effects of ACA treatment, further supporting the role of LAMTOR1 as a target of ACA. These findings suggest LAMTOR1 plays a crucial role in ACA's therapeutic effects on MAFLD. In summary, our study identifies LAMTOR1 as a key protein target of ACA, revealing a potential therapeutic avenue for MAFLD by modulating autophagy via the LAMTOR1-MTORC1-AMPK signaling pathway. ACA: acacetin; ADGRE1/EMR1/F4/80: adhesion G protein-coupled receptor E1; AMPK: AMP-activated protein kinase; CDAHFD: choline-deficient amino acid-defined, high-fat diet; CETSA: cellular thermal shift assay; CQ: chloroquine; DARTS: drug affinity responsive target stability; DQ-BSA: dye quenched-bovine serum albumin; GOT1/AST: glutamic-oxaloacetic transaminase 1; GPT/ALT: glutamic-pyruvic transaminase; LAMP2: lysosomal associated membrane protein 2; LAMTOR1: late endosomal/lysosomal adaptor, MAPK and MTOR activator 1; LC-MS/MS: liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry; MAFLD: metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease; MAP1LC3B/LC3: microtubule associated protein 1 light chain 3 beta; MASH: metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis; mRFP-GFP-MAP1LC3B: tandem fluorescent-tagged MAP1LC3B; MTORC1: mechanistic target of rapamycin complex 1; PA: palmitic acid; PRKAA: protein kinase AMP-activated catalytic subunit alpha; PLA: proximity ligation assay; Rapa: rapamycin; RPS6KB1/p70S6K: ribosomal protein S6 kinase B1; RRAG: Ras-related GTP-binding; SQSTM1: sequestosome 1; TFEB: transcription factor EB; VMP1: vacuole membrane protein 1.