Besides controlling several organellar functions, lysosomal channels also guide the catabolic
“self-eating” process named autophagy, which is mainly involved in protein and organelle quality
control. Neuronal cells are particularly sensitive to the rate of autophagic flux either under physiological
conditions or during the degenerative process. Accordingly, neurodegeneration occurring in Parkinson’s
(PD), Alzheimer’s (AD), and Huntington's Diseases (HD), and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis
(ALS) as well as Lysosomal Storage Diseases (LSD) is partially due to defective autophagy and
accumulation of toxic aggregates. In this regard, dysfunction of lysosomal ionic homeostasis has been
identified as a putative cause of aberrant autophagy. From a therapeutic perspective, Transient Receptor
Potential Channel Mucolipin 1 (TRPML1) and Two-Pore Channel isoform 2 (TPC2), regulating
lysosomal homeostasis, are now considered promising druggable targets in neurodegenerative diseases.
Compelling evidence suggests that pharmacological modulation of TRPML1 and TPC2 may rescue
the pathological phenotype associated with autophagy dysfunction in AD, PD, HD, ALS, and LSD.
Although pharmacological repurposing has identified several already used drugs with the ability to
modulate TPC2, and several tools are already available for the modulation of TRPML1, many efforts
are necessary to design and test new entities with much higher specificity in order to reduce dysfunctional
autophagy during neurodegeneration.