Trehalose, a disaccharide present in many non-mammalian species, protects cells against
various environmental stresses. Whereas some of the protective effects may be explained by
its chemical chaperone properties, its actions are largely unknown. Here we report a novel
function of trehalose as an mTOR-independent autophagy activator. Trehalose-induced
autophagy enhanced the clearance of autophagy substrates like mutant huntingtin and the
A30P and A53T mutants of α-synuclein, associated with Huntington disease (HD) and …