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51/100

✓ Peer-reviewed alzhub usefulness score 51 out of 100. Lewy body dementia

Topic: Brain proteins, microglia and lab models

Recently, mutations in the progranulin (PGRN) gene were found to cause familial and apparently sporadic frontotemporal lobe dementia (FTLD). Moreover, missense changes in PGRN were identified in patients with motor neuron degeneration, a condition that is related to FTLD. Most mutations identified in patients with FTLD until now have been null mutations. However, it remains unknown whether PGRN protein levels are reduced in the central nervous system from such patients. The effects of PGRN on neurons also remain to be established. We report that PGRN levels are reduced in the cerebrospinal fluid from FTLD patients carrying a PGRN mutation. We observe that PGRN and GRN E (one of the proteolytic fragments of PGRN) promote neuronal survival and enhance neurite outgrowth in cultured neurons. These results demonstrate that PGRN/GRN is a neurotrophic factor with activities that may be involved in the development of the nervous system and in neurodegeneration.

Key findings

These results demonstrate that PGRN/GRN is a neurotrophic factor with activities that may be involved in the development of the nervous system and in neurodegeneration.

Why it matters

This laboratory work found that progranulin levels are reduced in cerebrospinal fluid from frontotemporal dementia patients with a PGRN mutation and that progranulin promotes neuronal survival and neurite outgrowth in cultured neurons. It is cell and patient-sample research, so it does not yet show any treatment, cure or prevention for Alzheimer's disease.

Study details

Evidence strengthLow

How this study scored 51/100

Published in a peer-reviewed journal. Scored zero for study design, sample size, effect reported, studied in people and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it.

Component	Points	Why
Journal tier	7 / 10	Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (The Journal of cell biology)
Journal's citation record	4 / 4	The Journal of Cell Biology: journal h-index 597 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29)
Study design	0 / 12	No study design recorded — scores zero, not guessed (not stated in the record — scored 0)
Strength of evidence	1 / 5	Rated “low” in our summary
Peer-review validation	10 / 10	Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal.
How recent	1 / 5	2008 — within 20 year(s) of the newest study here
Sample size	0 / 4	Participant count not stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0)
Effect reported	0 / 3	No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0)
Studied in people	0 / 3	Not stated whether this was studied in people — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0)
Randomised / blinded	0 / 2	No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0)
Times cited	6 / 7	Cited 420 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10)
Citations per year	4 / 5	21.0 citations a year over 20 year(s) since 2008
Impact for its field and year	4 / 6	Cited 17.1× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI)
Cited by studies here	3 / 6	Cited by 17 other studies in this library
Still being cited	2 / 4	Cited 40 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex)
Senior author's track record	3 / 4	Last-listed author Wim Robberecht: h-index 82 (OpenAlex, whole career)
Institution's track record	1 / 3	KU Leuven: institution h-index 1,386 (OpenAlex)
Multi-centre collaboration	1 / 3	OpenAlex lists 3 institution(s) in 2 countries
Indexed in PubMed	2 / 2	Indexed in PubMed (PMID 18378771)
Free to read	2 / 2	Free to read
Total	51 / 100	—

What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →

Read the original

Full text: free to read — OpenAlex lists this copy as free to read: the link above (checked 6 Feb 1020).

Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris

Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. The record's author list ends in “et al.”, so not every author is named. Check the citation against the original before you use it.

APA 7th

Van Damme, P., Van Hoecke, A., Lambrechts, D., Vanacker, P., Bogaert, E., van Swieten, J., et al. (2008). Progranulin functions as a neurotrophic factor to regulate neurite outgrowth and enhance neuronal survival. The Journal of cell biology. https://doi.org/10.1083/jcb.200712039

Vancouver

Van Damme P, Van Hoecke A, Lambrechts D, Vanacker P, Bogaert E, van Swieten J, et al. Progranulin functions as a neurotrophic factor to regulate neurite outgrowth and enhance neuronal survival. The Journal of cell biology. 2008. doi:10.1083/jcb.200712039. PMID: 18378771.

BibTeX

@article{vandamme2008-18378771,
  author  = {Van Damme, P. and Van Hoecke, A. and Lambrechts, D. and Vanacker, P. and Bogaert, E. and van Swieten, J. and Carmeliet, P. and Van Den Bosch, L. and others},
  title   = {{Progranulin functions as a neurotrophic factor to regulate neurite outgrowth and enhance neuronal survival}},
  journal = {The Journal of cell biology},
  year    = {2008},
  doi     = {10.1083/jcb.200712039},
  pmid    = {18378771},
  url     = {https://doi.org/10.1083/jcb.200712039}
}

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