In a previous study, we evaluated the expression of PGRN after hypoxic treatment in neuroblastoma cell lines, and we found that PGRN mRNA and protein are up-regulated by hypoxia suggesting that PGRN could exert a protective role in the brain against hypoxic stress, one of main risk factors involved in dementia (Piscopo et al., 2010). The gene discussed is GRN; the disease is neuroblastoma.