Reduction of sphingomyelinase activity associated with progranulin deficiency and frontotemporal dementia

Loss-of-function mutations affecting the lysosomal protein progranulin are a leading cause of frontotemporal dementia. Progranulin mutations cause abnormalities in lysosomal lipid processing, particularly of sphingolipids, major components of neural cell membranes that play important signaling roles...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Nicholas R. Boyle, Stephanie N. Fox, Aniketh S. Tadepalli, Nicholas T. Seyfried, Thomas Kukar, Eliana M. Ramos, Alissa L. Nana, Salvatore Spina, Lea T. Grinberg, Bruce L. Miller, William W. Seeley, Andrew E. Arrant, Erik D. Roberson
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-09-01
Series:Neurobiology of Disease
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0969996125002402
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1850077954594308096
author Nicholas R. Boyle
Stephanie N. Fox
Aniketh S. Tadepalli
Nicholas T. Seyfried
Thomas Kukar
Eliana M. Ramos
Alissa L. Nana
Salvatore Spina
Lea T. Grinberg
Bruce L. Miller
William W. Seeley
Andrew E. Arrant
Erik D. Roberson
author_facet Nicholas R. Boyle
Stephanie N. Fox
Aniketh S. Tadepalli
Nicholas T. Seyfried
Thomas Kukar
Eliana M. Ramos
Alissa L. Nana
Salvatore Spina
Lea T. Grinberg
Bruce L. Miller
William W. Seeley
Andrew E. Arrant
Erik D. Roberson
author_sort Nicholas R. Boyle
collection DOAJ
description Loss-of-function mutations affecting the lysosomal protein progranulin are a leading cause of frontotemporal dementia. Progranulin mutations cause abnormalities in lysosomal lipid processing, particularly of sphingolipids, major components of neural cell membranes that play important signaling roles in the brain. Most work in this area has focused on two classes of sphingolipids, gangliosides and cerebrosides. Here, we examined enzymes involved in metabolism of another class of sphingolipids, the sphingomyelins, in both mouse models and patients with progranulin insufficiency. Acidic sphingomyelinase activity was decreased in progranulin knockout, but not heterozygous, mice. This resulted from post-transcriptional loss of acid sphingomyelinase (Smpd1) protein. Progranulin interacted with acid sphingomyelinase in immunoprecipitation and proximity ligation assays, suggesting a co-trafficking role like progranulin plays with other lysosomal enzymes. Consistent with that hypothesis, restoring progranulin in knockout mice using AAV-progranulin gene therapy corrected acid sphingomyelinase deficits. In post-mortem brain tissue from patients with frontotemporal dementia due to heterozygous progranulin mutations, neutral, but not acidic, sphingomyelinase activity was decreased. Neutral sphingomyelinase 2 (SMPD3), the predominant neutral sphingomyelinase in the brain, was reduced in patients with progranulin mutations. A similar trend (p = 0.0586) was seen in patients with sporadic frontotemporal lobar degeneration with type A TDP-43 pathology, but not in other types of frontotemporal lobar degeneration. The reduction of neutral sphingomyelinase 2 occurred in frontal, but not occipital cortex, correlating with the selective vulnerability of frontal regions seen in FTD. These data shed light on the role of progranulin in sphingomyelin metabolism and of this pathway in frontotemporal dementia.
format Article
id doaj-art-43f5e49acabc481284314d878f7fc7ec
institution DOAJ
issn 1095-953X
language English
publishDate 2025-09-01
publisher Elsevier
record_format Article
series Neurobiology of Disease
spelling doaj-art-43f5e49acabc481284314d878f7fc7ec2025-08-20T02:45:42ZengElsevierNeurobiology of Disease1095-953X2025-09-0121310702410.1016/j.nbd.2025.107024Reduction of sphingomyelinase activity associated with progranulin deficiency and frontotemporal dementiaNicholas R. Boyle0Stephanie N. Fox1Aniketh S. Tadepalli2Nicholas T. Seyfried3Thomas Kukar4Eliana M. Ramos5Alissa L. Nana6Salvatore Spina7Lea T. Grinberg8Bruce L. Miller9William W. Seeley10Andrew E. Arrant11Erik D. Roberson12Department of Neurology, Killion Center for Neurodegeneration and Experimental Therapeutics, Alzheimer's Disease Center, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USADepartment of Neurology, Killion Center for Neurodegeneration and Experimental Therapeutics, Alzheimer's Disease Center, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USADepartment of Neurology, Killion Center for Neurodegeneration and Experimental Therapeutics, Alzheimer's Disease Center, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USADepartment of Biochemistry, School of Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USADepartment of Pharmacology and Chemical Biology, School of Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USADepartment of Psychiatry, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USADepartment of Neurology, Memory & Aging Center, UCSF Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USADepartment of Neurology, Memory & Aging Center, UCSF Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USADepartment of Neurology, Memory & Aging Center, UCSF Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA; Department of Pathology, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USADepartment of Neurology, Memory & Aging Center, UCSF Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USADepartment of Neurology, Memory & Aging Center, UCSF Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA; Department of Pathology, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USADepartment of Neurology, Killion Center for Neurodegeneration and Experimental Therapeutics, Alzheimer's Disease Center, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USADepartment of Neurology, Killion Center for Neurodegeneration and Experimental Therapeutics, Alzheimer's Disease Center, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA; Corresponding author at: Shelby Biomedical Research Building 1110, 1825 University Blvd, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA.Loss-of-function mutations affecting the lysosomal protein progranulin are a leading cause of frontotemporal dementia. Progranulin mutations cause abnormalities in lysosomal lipid processing, particularly of sphingolipids, major components of neural cell membranes that play important signaling roles in the brain. Most work in this area has focused on two classes of sphingolipids, gangliosides and cerebrosides. Here, we examined enzymes involved in metabolism of another class of sphingolipids, the sphingomyelins, in both mouse models and patients with progranulin insufficiency. Acidic sphingomyelinase activity was decreased in progranulin knockout, but not heterozygous, mice. This resulted from post-transcriptional loss of acid sphingomyelinase (Smpd1) protein. Progranulin interacted with acid sphingomyelinase in immunoprecipitation and proximity ligation assays, suggesting a co-trafficking role like progranulin plays with other lysosomal enzymes. Consistent with that hypothesis, restoring progranulin in knockout mice using AAV-progranulin gene therapy corrected acid sphingomyelinase deficits. In post-mortem brain tissue from patients with frontotemporal dementia due to heterozygous progranulin mutations, neutral, but not acidic, sphingomyelinase activity was decreased. Neutral sphingomyelinase 2 (SMPD3), the predominant neutral sphingomyelinase in the brain, was reduced in patients with progranulin mutations. A similar trend (p = 0.0586) was seen in patients with sporadic frontotemporal lobar degeneration with type A TDP-43 pathology, but not in other types of frontotemporal lobar degeneration. The reduction of neutral sphingomyelinase 2 occurred in frontal, but not occipital cortex, correlating with the selective vulnerability of frontal regions seen in FTD. These data shed light on the role of progranulin in sphingomyelin metabolism and of this pathway in frontotemporal dementia.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0969996125002402Frontotemporal dementiaFrontotemporal lobar degenerationProgranulinSphingomyelinaseSphingolipidLysosome
spellingShingle Nicholas R. Boyle
Stephanie N. Fox
Aniketh S. Tadepalli
Nicholas T. Seyfried
Thomas Kukar
Eliana M. Ramos
Alissa L. Nana
Salvatore Spina
Lea T. Grinberg
Bruce L. Miller
William W. Seeley
Andrew E. Arrant
Erik D. Roberson
Reduction of sphingomyelinase activity associated with progranulin deficiency and frontotemporal dementia
Neurobiology of Disease
Frontotemporal dementia
Frontotemporal lobar degeneration
Progranulin
Sphingomyelinase
Sphingolipid
Lysosome
title Reduction of sphingomyelinase activity associated with progranulin deficiency and frontotemporal dementia
title_full Reduction of sphingomyelinase activity associated with progranulin deficiency and frontotemporal dementia
title_fullStr Reduction of sphingomyelinase activity associated with progranulin deficiency and frontotemporal dementia
title_full_unstemmed Reduction of sphingomyelinase activity associated with progranulin deficiency and frontotemporal dementia
title_short Reduction of sphingomyelinase activity associated with progranulin deficiency and frontotemporal dementia
title_sort reduction of sphingomyelinase activity associated with progranulin deficiency and frontotemporal dementia
topic Frontotemporal dementia
Frontotemporal lobar degeneration
Progranulin
Sphingomyelinase
Sphingolipid
Lysosome
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0969996125002402
work_keys_str_mv AT nicholasrboyle reductionofsphingomyelinaseactivityassociatedwithprogranulindeficiencyandfrontotemporaldementia
AT stephanienfox reductionofsphingomyelinaseactivityassociatedwithprogranulindeficiencyandfrontotemporaldementia
AT anikethstadepalli reductionofsphingomyelinaseactivityassociatedwithprogranulindeficiencyandfrontotemporaldementia
AT nicholastseyfried reductionofsphingomyelinaseactivityassociatedwithprogranulindeficiencyandfrontotemporaldementia
AT thomaskukar reductionofsphingomyelinaseactivityassociatedwithprogranulindeficiencyandfrontotemporaldementia
AT elianamramos reductionofsphingomyelinaseactivityassociatedwithprogranulindeficiencyandfrontotemporaldementia
AT alissalnana reductionofsphingomyelinaseactivityassociatedwithprogranulindeficiencyandfrontotemporaldementia
AT salvatorespina reductionofsphingomyelinaseactivityassociatedwithprogranulindeficiencyandfrontotemporaldementia
AT leatgrinberg reductionofsphingomyelinaseactivityassociatedwithprogranulindeficiencyandfrontotemporaldementia
AT brucelmiller reductionofsphingomyelinaseactivityassociatedwithprogranulindeficiencyandfrontotemporaldementia
AT williamwseeley reductionofsphingomyelinaseactivityassociatedwithprogranulindeficiencyandfrontotemporaldementia
AT andrewearrant reductionofsphingomyelinaseactivityassociatedwithprogranulindeficiencyandfrontotemporaldementia
AT erikdroberson reductionofsphingomyelinaseactivityassociatedwithprogranulindeficiencyandfrontotemporaldementia