Endurance exercise ameliorates phenotypes in Drosophila models of Spinocerebellar Ataxias

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Abstract

Endurance exercise is a potent intervention with widespread benefits proven to reduce disease incidence and impact across species. While endurance exercise supports neural plasticity, enhanced memory, and reduced neurodegeneration, less is known about the effect of chronic exercise on the progression of movement disorders such as ataxias. Here, we focused on three different types of ataxias, Spinocerebellar Ataxias Type (SCAs) 2, 3, and 6, belonging to the polyglutamine (polyQ) family of neurodegenerative disorders. In Drosophila models of these SCAs, flies progressively lose motor function. In this study, we observe marked protection of speed and endurance in exercised SCA2 flies and modest protection in exercised SCA6 models, with no benefit to SCA3 flies. Causative protein levels are reduced in SCA2 flies after chronic exercise, but not in SCA3 models, linking protein levels to exercise-based benefits. Further mechanistic investigation indicates that the exercise-inducible protein, Sestrin (Sesn), suppresses mobility decline and improves early death in SCA2 flies, even without exercise, coincident with disease protein level reduction and increased autophagic flux. These improvements partially depend on previously established functions of Sesn that reduce oxidative damage and modulate mTOR activity. Our study suggests differential responses of polyQ SCAs to exercise, highlighting the potential for more extensive application of exercise-based therapies in the prevention of polyQ neurodegeneration. Defining the mechanisms by which endurance exercise suppresses polyQ SCAs will open the door for more effective treatment for these diseases.

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All data generated or analysed during this study are included in the manuscript and supporting file; Source Data files have been provided for all figures and supplementary information.

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Alyson Sujkowski

Department of Physiology, Wayne State University, Detroit, United States

Competing interests
The authors declare that no competing interests exist.

"This ORCID iD identifies the author of this article:" 0000-0002-9909-9279
Kristin Richardson

Department of Physiology, Wayne State University, Detroit, United States

Competing interests
The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
Matthew V Prifti

Department of Pharmacology, Wayne State University, Detroit, United States

Competing interests
The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
Robert J Wessells

Department of Physiology, Wayne State University, Detroit, United States

For correspondence
rwessell@med.wayne.edu

Competing interests
The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
Sokol V Todi

Department of Pharmacology, Wayne State University, Detroit, United States

For correspondence
stodi@wayne.edu

Competing interests
The authors declare that no competing interests exist.

"This ORCID iD identifies the author of this article:" 0000-0003-4399-5549

Funding

Wayne State University (Thomas C. Rumble Graduate Fellowship)

Alyson Sujkowski

NIH Office of the Director (R01 AG059683)

Robert J Wessells

NIH Office of the Director (R21 NS121276)

Robert J Wessells
Sokol V Todi

NIH Office of the Director (R01 NS086778)

Sokol V Todi

The funders had no role in study design, data collection and interpretation, or the decision to submit the work for publication.

Copyright

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License permitting unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited.