Granulin antibodies are essential tools in studying the role of granulin (GRN), a multifunctional protein encoded by the *GRN* gene. Granulin exists as a precursor protein (progranulin) that is proteolytically cleaved into smaller peptides called granulins. These peptides are implicated in diverse cellular processes, including cell proliferation, inflammation, wound healing, and neuronal survival. Dysregulation of granulin expression is linked to several diseases, such as frontotemporal dementia (FTD), Alzheimer’s disease, and cancer, making it a critical focus of biomedical research.
Antibodies targeting granulin are widely used to detect its expression and localization in tissues or biofluids via techniques like Western blotting, immunohistochemistry, and ELISA. Both monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies are available, with monoclonal antibodies offering high specificity for distinct epitopes and polyclonal antibodies providing broader detection sensitivity. These reagents help elucidate granulin’s role in disease mechanisms, particularly in neurodegeneration (e.g., *GRN* mutations cause FTD via progranulin haploinsufficiency) and tumor progression (e.g., granulin’s dual role as a tumor suppressor or promoter depending on context).
Additionally, granulin antibodies are vital in developing diagnostic biomarkers and therapeutic strategies. For instance, they aid in measuring progranulin levels in FTD patients or evaluating granulin’s interaction with pathways like lysosomal function and neuroinflammation. Ongoing research also explores granulin-targeting therapies, including antibody-based interventions to modulate its activity in diseases. However, challenges remain, such as ensuring antibody specificity across different granulin isoforms and understanding context-dependent functions. Overall, granulin antibodies are indispensable for advancing both basic and clinical research in neurology and oncology.