SSH1 impedes SQSTM1/p62 flux and MAPT/Tau clearance independent of CFL (cofilin) activation

Accumulation of toxic protein assemblies and damaged mitochondria are key features of neurodegenerative diseases, which arise in large part from clearance defects in the Macroautophagy/autophagy-lysosome system. The autophagy cargo receptor SQSTM1/p62 plays a major role in the clearance of ubiquitinated cargo through Ser403 phosphorylation by multiple kinases. However, no phosphatase is known to physiologically dephosphorylate SQSTM1 on this activating residue. RNAi-mediated knockdown and overexpression experiments using genetically encoded fluorescent reporters and defined mutant constructs in cell lines, primary neurons, and brains show that SSH1, the canonical CFL (cofilin) phosphatase, mediates the dephosphorylation of phospho-Ser403-SQSTM1, thereby impairing SQSTM1 flux and phospho-MAPT/tau clearance. The inhibitory action of SSH1 on SQSTM1 is fully dependent on SQSTM1 Ser403 phosphorylation status and is separable from SSH1-mediated CFL activation. These findings reveal a unique action of SSH1 on SQSTM1 independent of CFL and implicate an inhibitory role of SSH1 in SQSTM1-mediated clearance of autophagic cargo, including phospho-MAPT/tau.