Significance of the lysosomal protease Cathepsin Z for microglial clearance of pathological protein-aggregates in Alzheimer disease
Navn på bevillingshaver
Bente Finsen
Institution
University of Southern Denmark
Beløb
DKK 485,692
År
2021
Bevillingstype
Research Infrastructure
Resumé
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common cause of dementia in the elderly. This project will provide novel information on the significance of the microglial-expressed lysosomal protease Cathepsin Z in the progression of Alzheimer disease (AD). The project is based on own results showing that the microglia, which are specialized macrophages situated in the neuropil, express elevated levels of Cathepsin Z in postmortem cortex from AD cases and proteomics data defining Cathepsin Z as an AD-associated protein in microglia in a mouse model of this disease. Taken together, the available information suggests that microglial-expressed Cathepsin Z is implicated in AD, and that elucidating its function in the progression holds potential for AD treatment.