Abstract

Diabetes have been shown to cause progressive neuronal injury with pain and numbness via advanced glycation end-products (AGEs)-induced neuronal cell apoptosis; however, the valuable drug targets for diabetic neuropathy have been poorly reported so far. In this study, we discovered a natural small-molecule schisandrol A (SolA) with significant protective effect against AGEs-induced neuronal cell apoptosis. ATP6V0D1, a major subunit of vacuolar-type ATPase (V-ATPase) in lysosome was identified as a crucial cellular target of SolA. Moreover, SolA allosterically mediated ATP6V0D1 conformation via targeting a unique cysteine 335 residue to activate V-ATPase-dependent lysosomal acidification. Interestingly, SolA-induced lysosome pH downregulation resulted in a mitochondrial–lysosomal crosstalk by selectively promoting mitochondrial BH3-only protein BIM degradation, thereby preserving mitochondrial homeostasis and neuronal cells survival. Collectively, our findings reveal ATP6V0D1 is a valuable pharmacological target for diabetes-associated neuronal injury via controlling lysosomal acidification, and also provide the first small-molecule template allosterically activating V-ATPase for preventing diabetic neuropathy.