A small molecule autophagy inducer exerts cytoprotection against α-synuclein toxicity

alpha-synucleopathies are protein-misfolding disorders occur primarily due to aggregation and toxicity of alpha-synuclein. This study characterized the small molecule AGK2 as a modifier of alpha-synuclein mediated toxicity in an autophagy dependent manner in both yeast and mammalian cell line models. In yeast system, AGK2 enhances autophagy to clear toxic alpha-synuclein aggregates in an autophagy dependent manner. Autophagy flux analyses revealed that AGK2 induces autophagy especially autolysosomes. Importantly, AGK2 induces autophagy in an mTOR independent manner. These features enable AGK2 to exert cytoprotective potential against a-synuclein mediated toxicity in different model systems.