ABSTRACT
The transcription factor EB (TFEB) plays a pivotal role in the regulation of basic cellular processes, such as lysosomal biogenesis and autophagy. The subcellular localization and activity of TFEB are regulated by mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR)-mediated phosphorylation, which occurs at the lysosomal surface. Phosphorylated TFEB is retained in the cytoplasm, whereas dephosphorylated TFEB translocates to the nucleus to induce the transcription of target genes. Thus, a lysosome-to-nucleus signaling pathway regulates cellular energy metabolism through TFEB. Recently, in vivo studies have revealed that TFEB is also involved in physiological processes, such as lipid catabolism. TFEB has attracted a lot of attention owing to its ability to induce the intracellular clearance of pathogenic factors in a variety of murine models of disease, such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's, suggesting that novel therapeutic strategies could be based on the modulation of TFEB activity. In this Cell Science at a Glance article and accompanying poster, we present an overview of the latest research on TFEB function and its implication in human diseases.
Footnotes
Competing interests
The authors declare no competing or financial interests.
Funding
We are grateful to the Fondazione Telethon; the Beyond Batten Disease Foundation; the European Research Council, the Associazione Italiana per la Ricerca sul Cancro (Italian Association for Cancer Research); and the National Institutes of Health for their generous support. G.N. is supported by the DTI-IMPORT Marie Skłodowska-Curie COFUND program and by a Horizon 2020 Marie Skłodowska-Curie individual fellowship (IF) of the European commission. Deposited in PMC for release after 12 months.
Cell science at a glance
A high-resolution version of the poster and individual poster panels are available for downloading at http://jcs.biologists.org/lookup/doi/10.1242/jcs.146365.supplemental.
- © 2016. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd
Article navigation
- Top
- Article
- ABSTRACT
- Introduction
- MiT family of transcription factors
- TFEB as a master regulator of lysosomal function and autophagy
- Regulation of TFEB activity
- Functional in vivo studies of TFEB
- TFEB and the MiT family in tumorigenesis
- TFEB as a therapeutic target for diseases
- Concluding remarks
- Acknowledgements
- Footnotes
- References
- Figures & tables
- Supp info
- Info & metrics
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