Gaucher Disease Glucocerebrosidase and α-Synuclein Form a Bidirectional Pathogenic Loop in Synucleinopathies

Parkinson's disease (PD), an adult neurodegenerative disorder, has been clinically linked to the lysosomal storage disorder Gaucher disease (GD), but the mechanistic connection is not known. Here, we show that functional loss of GD-linked glucocerebrosidase (GCase) in primary cultures or human iPS neurons compromises lysosomal protein degradation, causes accumulation of alpha-synuclein (alpha-syn), and results in neurotoxicity through aggregation-dependent mechanisms. Glucosylceramide (GlcCer), the GCase substrate, directly influenced amyloid formation of purified alpha-syn by stabilizing soluble oligomeric intermediates. We further demonstrate that alpha-syn inhibits the lysosomal activity of normal GCase in neurons and idiopathic PD brain, suggesting that GCase depletion contributes to the pathogenesis of sporadic synucleinopathies. These findings suggest that the bidirectional effect of alpha-syn and GCase forms a positive feedback loop that may lead to a self-propagating disease. Therefore, improved targeting of GCase to lysosomes may represent a specific therapeutic approach for PD and other synucleinopathies.