Parkinson's Disease Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Parkinson's Disease, including details on symptoms, treatment, genetics, medication.

An LRRK2 mutation as a cause for the parkinsonism in the original PARK8 family.

Funayama M, Hasegawa K, Ohta E, Kawashima N, Komiyama M, Kowa H, Tsuji S, Obata F

Division of Clinical Immunology, Kitasato University Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Tokyo, Japan.

We detected a missense mutation in the kinase domain of the LRRK2 gene in members with autosomal dominant Parkinson's disease of the Japanese family (the Sagamihara family) who served as the basis for the original defining of the PARK8 Parkinson's disease locus. The results of the Sagamihara family, in combination with the unique pathological features characterized by pure nigral degeneration without Lewy bodies, provided us with valuable information for elucidating the protein structure-pathogenesis relationship for the gene product of LRRK2. We did not detect this mutation or other known mutations of the LRRK2 gene in Japanese patients with sporadic Parkinson's disease.

Published 6 June 2005 in Ann Neurol, 57(6): 918-21.
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