Department of Neurology, Qingdao Municipal Hospital, School of Medicine, Qingdao University, Qingdao, China.
Memory and Aging Center, Department of Neurology, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA.
Mol Neurobiol. 2016 Aug;53(6):4189-4196. doi: 10.1007/s12035-015-9358-0. Epub 2015 Jul 28.
Progranulin (PGRN), a multifunctional growth factor expressed in various tissues, is involved in a diversity of physiologic and pathological processes, including cell proliferation, wound healing, and modulation of inflammation. Interest in the role of progranulin in the brain has increased dramatically since mutations in GRN, which encodes for the protein PGRN, are associated with the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD). A great many of studies suggest that PGRN participates in AD pathogenesis through diverse pathways, including Aβ deposition and clearance, intraneuronal deposition of phosphorylated tau, neuroinflammation, and neuronal survival. Decreased GRN mRNA levels can be detected in the parietal lobe of patients clinically diagnosed with AD; more importantly, emerging data support that serum or plasma PGRN can act as a biomarker for AD. By understanding PGRN in a wider context, we may be better able to depict its role in AD and then provide a therapeutic strategy for AD.
颗粒蛋白前体（PGRN）是一种在多种组织中表达的多功能生长因子，参与多种生理和病理过程，包括细胞增殖、伤口愈合和炎症调节。自从与阿尔茨海默病（AD）发病机制相关的 GRN 基因突变与 PGRN 蛋白编码相关以来，人们对颗粒蛋白前体在大脑中的作用的兴趣大大增加。大量研究表明，PGRN 通过多种途径参与 AD 的发病机制，包括 Aβ 沉积和清除、磷酸化 tau 在内的神经元沉积、神经炎症和神经元存活。在临床诊断为 AD 的患者的顶叶中可以检测到 GRN mRNA 水平降低；更重要的是，新出现的数据支持血清或血浆 PGRN 可以作为 AD 的生物标志物。通过更广泛地了解 PGRN，我们或许能够更好地描绘其在 AD 中的作用，然后为 AD 提供治疗策略。
