Our findings suggested that the SNP rs7684318 (T>C) transition of the SNCA gene contributes to PD susceptibility in Chinese Han population, which is consistent with the earlier study form Japan.
Although most patients suffering from PD have a sporadic disease, several genetic causes have been identified in recent years, including alpha-synuclein, parkin, PINK1, dardarin (LRRK2), and DJ-1.
Since alterations in synuclein function may predispose to the disease pathology of PD, regardless of the presence of genetic mutations, a more thorough understanding of the cellular regulation and function of alpha-synuclein may be of crucial importance to our understanding of this degenerating disorder.
We conclude that the alpha-synuclein (G209A) gene mutation genotype should be considered in the differential diagnosis of dementia with Lewy bodies, particularly in patients with European ancestry and a family history of Parkinson's disease.
In this study, we used a mouse model, overexpressing the complete human SNCA gene (SNCA-TG mice) modeling familial and sporadic forms of PD to study whether environmental conditions such as standard <i>vs.</i> enriched environment changes the gut microbiome and influences disease progression.
Implicated in neurotoxicity are two alphaSN mutants (A53T and A30P) that cause extremely rare familial forms of PD, alphaSN fibrils and protofibrils, soluble protein complexes of alphaSN with 14-3-3 protein, and phosphorylated, nitrosylated, and ubiquitylated alphaSN species.
While an Ala53Thr mutation in alpha-synuclein can cause PD in humans, in mice the wildtype residue at position 53 is threonine, indicating that mice are either too short-lived to develop PD, or are protected by the six other amino acid differences between the proteins in these two species.
The frequency of SNCArs356182-G allele was significantly higher in PD group than that in controls (odds ratio (OR)=1.470, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.284-1.683, P=2.306E-8).
Survivors of blast-induced traumatic brain injury (bTBI) have increased susceptibility to Parkinson's disease (PD), characterized by α-synuclein aggregation and the progressive degeneration of nigrostriatal dopaminergic neurons.
The aim of this study was to determine RBD specific genetic features associated to an increased risk of progression to PD, by sequencing of the SNCA-3'UTR in patients with "idiopathic" RBD (iRBD) and in patients with PD.
The three single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of the promoter region (rs2583988, rs2619364, rs2619363) and a SNP in the 3'UTR (rs356165) of the SNCA gene showed the greatest evidence for an association with PD (p <or= 0.003), with significant pairwise values for linkage disequilibrium (D' >or= 0.74, r (2) >or= 0.29).
Our results indicate that the association of LRRK2 p.R1398H with Parkinson's disease is independent of SNCA and MAPT variants, and vice versa, in Caucasian and Asian populations.
Our results further show that the common structural feature of the three PD-associated mutants is more compact and rigid sites at their N and C termini compared with WT α-Syn that may facilitate the formation of a partially folded intermediate that eventually leads to their increased oligomerization propensities.