bioRxiv preprint doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.04.10.439302; this version posted April 11, 2021. The copyright holder for this preprint (which was not certified by peer review) is the author/funder. All rights reserved. No reuse allowed without permission. Lysosomal Exocytosis Releases Pathogenic α-Synuclein Species from Neurons Ying Xue Xie1#, Nima N. Naseri2#, Jasmine Fels1, Parinati Kharel1, Yoonmi Na1, Jacqueline Burré1, Manu Sharma1* 1 Appel Institute for Alzheimer’s Research, and Brain & Mind Research Institute, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, USA. 2 Department of Chemistry, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA. # Equal contribution * Correspondence:
[email protected] bioRxiv preprint doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.04.10.439302; this version posted April 11, 2021. The copyright holder for this preprint (which was not certified by peer review) is the author/funder. All rights reserved. No reuse allowed without permission. SUMMARY Considerable evidence supports the release of pathogenic aggregates of the neuronal protein α-Synuclein (αSyn) into the extracellular space. While this release is proposed to instigate the neuron-to-neuron transmission and spread of αSyn pathology in synucleinopathies including Parkinson’s disease, the molecular-cellular mecha- nism(s) remain unclear. Here we show that pathogenic species of αSyn accumulate within neuronal lysosomes in mouse brains and primary neurons. We then find that neurons release these pathogenic αSyn species via SNARE- dependent lysosomal exocytosis; proposing a central mechanism for exocytosis of aggregated and degradation- resistant proteins from neurons. INTRODUCTION Cytoplasmic aggregates of the synaptic protein αSyn are a characteristic feature of multiple neurodegenerative diseases termed “synucleinopathies”, including Parkinson disease (PD).