Progranulin reduces insoluble TDP-43 levels, slows down axonal degeneration and prolongs survival in mutant TDP-43 mice

BACKGROUND: TAR DNA binding protein 43 (TDP-43) is the main disease protein in most patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and about 50% of patients with frontotemporal dementia (FTD). TDP-43 pathology is not restricted to patients with missense mutations in TARDBP, the gene encoding TDP-43, but also occurs in ALS/FTD patients without known genetic cause or in patients with various other ALS/FTD gene mutations. Mutations in progranulin (GRN), which result in a reduction of ~ 50% of progranulin protein (PGRN) levels, cause FTD with TDP-43 pathology. How loss of PGRN leads to TDP-43 pathology and whether or not PGRN expression protects against TDP-43-induced neurodegeneration is not yet clear. METHODS: We studied the effect of PGRN on the neurodegenerative phenotype in TDP-43(A315T) mice. RESULTS: PGRN reduced the levels of insoluble TDP-43 and histology of the spinal cord revealed a protective effect of PGRN on the loss of large axon fibers in the lateral horn, the most severely affected fiber pool in this mouse model. Overexpression of PGRN significantly slowed down disease progression, extending the median survival by approximately 130 days. A transcriptome analysis did not point towards a single pathway affected by PGRN, but rather towards a pleiotropic effect on different pathways. CONCLUSION: Our findings reveal an important role of PGRN in attenuating mutant TDP-43-induced neurodegeneration. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1186/s13024-018-0288-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.