Role of lysosomes in progranulin-linked frontotemporal dementia

While less common than Alzheimer’s disease, it is now thought that frontotemporal dementia (FTD) may account for up to 15% of all cases of human dementia. Mutations in the progranulin (PGRN) gene are a major cause of FTD. While the function of PGRN remains uncertain, recent years have yielded multiple lines of evidence that support a critical function for PGRN in lysosomes. We are thus investigating the specific lysosomal functions of PGRN, their relevance to neuronal cell biology and their relationship to the development of frontotemporal dementia.