A new gene, DRDN, has been identified by researchers to be a contributor to a certain (and hereditary) type of PD. Recent researches in Japan and Germany identified the location of familial Parkinson's Disease (PARK 8 ), but now Professor Nicholas Wood, of the Institute of Neurology, London, along with collaborating researchers in Spain and the United States, has pinpointed the precise gene.
PARK 8 was identified in 2002 by Funayama et al. Because many of the research subject families were of Basque descent, the researchers gave this gene (DRDN) the name Dardarin from the Basque word dardara, which means tremor (a common PD symptom).
The missense mutation of this gene, a leucine-rich repeat kinase 2, is thought to be responsible for the degeneration of dopaminergic cells of the
substantia nigra and
Lewy bodies of the brain, and accounts for about 6% of familial-segregated Parkinson's cases. Three articles, "A frequent LRRK2 gene mutation associated with autosomal dominant Parkinson's disease", "Genetic screening for a single common LRRK2 mutation in familial Parkinson's disease", and "A common LRRK2 mutation in idiopathic Parkinson's disease" have been published surrounding this gene mutation.
The research is relevant because it could directly lead to new treatments of all PD types.
Read more in
Dardarin Mutation is a Common Cause of Familial PD and
PD Genetics Update.
