HSPA8 and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: Additionally, in Drosophila models of ALS and human neuronal cells, scientists found that overexpression of TAR DNA-binding protein 43 (TDP-43) can inhibit HSPA8 transcription, leading to the dysfunction of synaptic vesicle cycling all of which is associated with microautophagy dysfunction (Coyne et al., 2017).