生长因子颗粒蛋白前体和肿瘤坏死因子受体基因启动子区改变与阿尔茨 海默病的相关性研究

目的:探讨生长因子颗粒蛋白前体(PGRN)、肿瘤坏死因子受体(TNFR)基因启动子区改变以及全基因组DNA甲基化与阿尔茨海默病的相关性。方法:收集阿尔茨海默病患者血液样本80例以及健康对照血液样本80例,PCR扩增PGRN和TNFR基因启动子区并进行测序,观察两组间的单核苷酸多态性位点是否有差异。同时,用甲基化特异性PCR法检测启动子区DNA甲基化情况以及用ELISA法检测全基因组DNA甲基化水平。结果:在TNFR基因启动子区域发现阿尔茨海默病和对照组之间在多态性位点rs4149570和rs4149569有显著性差异(P0.001和P=0.033)。阿尔茨海默病患者全基因组甲基化水平为(0.79±0.29)%,显著低于对照组的(1.00±0.36)%(P0.001)。结论:TNFR基因多态性位点rs4149570和rs4149569的变异可能与阿尔茨海默病相关,全基因组甲基化水平降低可能与阿尔茨海默病相关。     

Progranulin: A conductor of receptors orchestra,a chaperone of lysosomal enzymes and a therapeutic target for multiple diseases

Progranulin (PGRN), a widely expressed glycoprotein with pleiotropic function, has been linked to a host of physiological processes and diverse pathological states. A series of contemporary preclinical disease models and clinical trials have evaluated various therapeutic strategies targeting PGRN, highlighting PGRN as a promising therapeutic target. Herein we summarize available knowledge of PGRN targeting in various kinds of diseases, including common neurological diseases, inflammatory autoimmune diseases, cancer, tissue repair, and rare lysosomal storage diseases, with a focus on the functional domain-oriented drug development strategies. In particular, we emphasize the role of extracellular PGRN as a non-conventional, extracellular matrix bound, growth factor-like conductor orchestrating multiple membrane receptors and intracellular PGRN as a chaperone/co-chaperone that mediates the folding and traffic of its various binding partners.     

Identification of potent inhibitors of the sortilin-progranulin interaction

High-throughput screening methods have been used to identify two novel series of inhibitors that disrupt progranulin binding to sortilin. Exploration of structure-activity relationships (SAR) resulted in compounds with sufficient potency and physicochemical properties to enable co-crystallization with sortilin. These co-crystal structures supported observed SAR trends and provided guidance for additional avenues for designing compounds with additional interactions within the binding site.     

Progranulin compensates for blocked IGF-1 signaling to promote myotube hypertrophy in C2C12 myoblasts via the PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway

It is well known that growth hormone (GH)-induced IGF-1 signaling plays a dominant role in postnatal muscle growth. Our previous studies have identified a growth factor, progranulin (PGRN), that is co-induced with IGF-1 upon GH administration. This result prompted us to explore the function of PGRN and its association with IGF-1. In the present study, we demonstrated that, similar to IGF-1, PGRN can promote C2C12 myotube hypertrophy via the PI(3)K/Akt/mTOR pathway. Moreover, PGRN can rescue the muscle atrophy phenotypes in C2C12 myotube when IGF-1 signaling is blocked. This result shows that PGRN can substitute for IGF-1 signaling in the regulation of muscle growth. Our findings provide new insights into IGF-1-modulated complicated networks that regulate muscle growth.     

Progranulin A-mediated MET signaling is essential for liver morphogenesis in zebrafish

The mechanism that regulates embryonic liver morphogenesis remains elusive. Progranulin (PGRN) is postulated to play a critical role in regulating pathological liver growth. Nevertheless, the exact regulatory mechanism of PGRN in relation to its functional role in embryonic liver development remains to be elucidated. In our study, the knockdown of progranulin A (GrnA), an orthologue of mammalian PGRN, using antisense morpholinos resulted in impaired liver morphogenesis in zebrafish (Danio rerio). The vital role of GrnA in hepatic outgrowth and not in liver bud formation was further confirmed using whole-mount in situ hybridization markers. In addition, a GrnA deficiency was also found to be associated with the deregulation of MET-related genes in the neonatal liver using a microarray analysis. In contrast, the decrease in liver size that was observed in grnA morphants was avoided when ectopic MET expression was produced by co-injecting met mRNA and grnA morpholinos. This phenomenon suggests that GrnA might play a role in liver growth regulation via MET signaling. Furthermore, our study has shown that GrnA positively modulates hepatic MET expression both in vivo and in vitro. Therefore, our data have indicated that GrnA plays a vital role in embryonic liver morphogenesis in zebrafish. As a result, a novel link between PGRN and MET signaling is proposed.     

妊娠期糖尿病患者血清NRG4、FGF-23、PGRN水平及其临床意义

摘要 目的：探讨妊娠期糖尿病患者血清神经调节蛋白4(NRG4)、成纤维细胞生长因子-23(FGF-23)、前颗粒体蛋白(PGRN)水平及其临床意义。方法：选择2018年4月至2019年11月我院诊治的90例妊娠期糖尿病患者作为糖尿病组,选择同期在我院进行健康体检的90名健康孕妇作为对照组。检测两组血清NRG4、FGF-23、PGRN水平,血脂指标[高密度脂蛋白（HDL）、总胆固醇（TC）、甘油三酯（TG）和低密度脂蛋白（LDL）]水平,肝功能指标[谷草转氨酶（AST）、谷丙转氨酶(ALT)]水平,血糖和胰岛素指标[空腹血糖（FPG）、空腹胰岛素(FINS)]水平,并计算抗胰岛素抵抗指数(HOMA-IR)、胰岛素敏感性指数（ISI）和胰岛?茁细胞功能指数(HOMA-β)。分析各临床指标间的关系。结果：与对照组相比,糖尿病组体质量指数（BMI）、TG、TC、FPG、FINS、HOMA-IR、NRG4、FGF-23、PGRN明显升高（P<0.05）,ISI和HOMA-β明显下降（P<0.05）。血清NRG4、FGF-23、PGRN与ISI和HOMA-β均呈负相关（P<0.05）,与BMI、TG、TC、FPG、FINS、HOMA-IR均呈正相关（P<0.05）。TG与NRG4表达联系密切（β=0.007,P<0.05）,ISI和HOMA-IR与FGF-23表达联系密切（β=-6.674、0.048,P<0.05）,FPG和TC与PGRN表达联系密切（β=22.308、0.507,P<0.05）。结论：妊娠期糖尿病患者血清NRG4、FGF-23、PGRN水平异常升高,并参与妊娠期糖尿病患者的糖脂代谢和胰岛素抵抗,检测其水平有助于评估妊娠期糖尿病的糖脂代谢异常情况。     

Umbilical cord blood mesenchymal stem cells protect amyloid-β42 neurotoxicity via paracrine

AIM:To understand the neuroprotective mechanism of human umbilical cord blood-derived mesenchymal stem cells(hUCB-MSCs) against amyloid-β42(Aβ42) exposed rat primary neurons.METHODS:To evaluate the neuroprotective effect of hUCB-MSCs,the cells were co-cultured with Aβ42-exposed rat primary neuronal cells in a Transwell apparatus.To assess the involvement of soluble fac-tors released from hUCB-MSCs in neuroprotection,an antibody-based array using co-cultured media was conducted.The neuroprotective roles of the identified hUCB-MSC proteins was assessed by treating recombi-nant proteins or specific small interfering RNAs(siRNAs) for each candidate protein in a co-culture system.RESULTS:The hUCB-MSCs secreted elevated levels ofdecorin and progranulin when co-cultured with rat pri-mary neuronal cells exposed to Aβ42.Treatment with recombinant decorin and progranulin protected from Aβ42-neurotoxicity in vitro.In addition,siRNA-mediat-ed knock-down of decorin and progranulin production in hUCB-MSCs reduced the anti-apoptotic effects of hUCB-MSC in the co-culture system.CONCLUSION:Decorin and progranulin may be involved in anti-apoptotic activity of hUCB-MSCs exposed to Aβ42.     

Neuroimmune dysfunction in frontotemporal dementia: Insights from progranulin and C9orf72 deficiency

Neuroimmune dysfunction is a cardinal feature of neurodegenerative diseases. But how immune dysregulation in the brain and peripheral organs contribute to neurodegeneration remains unclear. Here, we discuss the recent advances highlighting neuroimmune dysfunction as a key disease-driving factor in frontotemporal dementia (FTD). We provide an overview of the clinical observations supporting a high prevalence of autoimmune diseases in FTD patients with mutations in GRN or C9orf72. We then focus on a myriad of evidence from human genetic studies, mouse models, in vitro assays, and multi-omics platform, which indicate that haploinsufficiency in GRN and C9orf72 promotes neuroimmune dysfunction and contributes to neurodegeneration and premature death. These compelling data provide key insights to disease mechanisms, biomarker discovery, and therapeutic interventions for FTD (120 words).     

Membrane orientation and subcellular localization of transmembrane protein 106B (TMEM106B), a major risk factor for frontotemporal lobar degeneration

TMEM106B was identified as a major risk factor in a genome-wide association study for frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD) with TAR DNA-binding protein (TDP)-43 pathology. The most significant association of TMEM106B single nucleotide polymorphisms with risk of FTLD-TDP was observed in patients with progranulin (GRN) mutations. Subsequent studies suggested an inverse correlation between TMEM106B expression and GRN levels in patient serum. However, in this study, this was not confirmed as we failed to detect a significant alteration of GRN levels upon knockdown or exogenous expression of TMEM106B in heterologous cells. To provide a basis for understanding TMEM106B function in health and disease, we investigated the membrane orientation and subcellular localization of this completely uncharacterized protein. By differential membrane extraction and sequential mutagenesis of potential N-glycosylation sites, we identified TMEM106B as a type 2 integral membrane protein with a highly glycosylated luminal domain. Glycosylation is partially required for the transport of TMEM106B beyond the endoplasmic reticulum to late cellular compartments. Endogenous as well as overexpressed TMEM106B localizes to late endosomes and lysosomes. Interestingly, the inhibition of vacuolar H(+)-ATPases significantly increased the levels of TMEM106B, a finding that may provide an unexpected biochemical link to GRN, because this protein is also strongly increased under the same conditions. Our findings provide a biochemical and cell biological basis for the understanding of the pathological role of TMEM106B in FTLD, an incurable neurodegenerative disorder.