Synaptopathy in CHMP2B frontotemporal dementia highlights the synaptic vesicle cycle as a therapeutic target

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis(ALS)and frontotemporal dementia(FTD)are both devastating neurodegenerative conditions.Despite affecting different regions of the nervous system(FTD affecting primarily the frontal and temporal lobes,whilst ALS presents with motor neuron loss),there is significant overlap between these conditions in terms of genetics,pathology,and disease mechanisms,and they are therefore often grouped as a spectrum of symptoms under the heading FTD/ALS(Abramzon et al.,2020).Significantly,there is currently no cure for ALS or FTD.However,recent mechanistic insight points to a novel pathway to target for potential therapeutic intervention.