Iridoid glycosides from Morinda officinalis induce lysosomal biogenesis and promote autophagic flux to attenuate oxidative stress

Abstract

Morinda officinalis is a traditional Chinese tonic herb, and have been used in the treatment of multiple diseases. Here, three iridoid glycosides isolated from M. officinalis were evaluated for their roles in the autophagy-lysosomal pathway. All three iridoid glycosides could induce TFEB/TFE3-mediated lysosomal biogenesis and trigger autophagy. Interestingly, they promoted the nuclear import of TFEB/TFE3 without affecting their nuclear export, suggesting their role in the maintenance of lysosomal homeostasis. The results from this study shed light on the identification of autophagy activators from M. officinalis and provide a basis for developing them in the treatment of oxidative stress-involved diseases.

Keywords:

• Iridoid glycosides
• Morinda officinalis
• lysosomal biogenesis
• TFEB/TFE3
• antioxidant activity

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported financially by grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China [82073740, 32000548, and 31730053], grant of the Engineering Technology Research Center of Characteristic Medicinal Plants of Fujian, Ningde Normal University [PP202001], the Natural Science Foundation of Yunnan Province [202001AT070053, 202001AT070055, and 2019FY003003], the CAMS Innovation Fund for Medical Sciences [CIFMS, 2021-I2M-5-004], and the Ningde Science and Technology Project [20190012].