scholarly journals Whole-exome analysis in Parkinson’s disease reveals a high burden of ultra rare variants in early onset cases

Author(s):  
Bernabe I. Bustos ◽  
Dimitri Krainc ◽  
Steven J. Lubbe ◽  

ABSTRACTParkinson’s disease (PD) is a complex neurodegenerative disorder with a strong genetic component. We performed a “hypothesis-free” exome-wide burden-based analysis of different variant frequencies, predicted functional impact and age of onset classes, in order to expand the understanding of rare variants in PD. Analyzing whole-exome data from a total of 1,425 PD cases and 596 controls, we found a significantly increased burden of ultra-rare (URV= private variants absent from gnomAD) protein altering variants (PAV) in early-onset PD cases (EOPD, <40 years old; P=3.95×10−26, beta=0.16, SE=0.02), compared to LOPD cases (>60 years old, late-onset), where more common PAVs (allele frequencies <0.001) showed the highest significance and effect (P=0.026, beta=0.15, SE=0.07). Gene-set burden analysis of URVs in EOPD highlighted significant disease- and tissue-relevant genes, pathways and protein-protein interaction networks that were different to that observed in non-EOPD cases. Heritability estimates revealed that URVs account for 15.9% of the genetic component in EOPD individuals. Our results suggest that URVs play a significant role in EOPD and that distinct etiological bases may exist for EOPD and sporadic PD. By providing new insights into the genetic architecture of PD, our study may inform approaches aimed at novel gene discovery and provide new directions for genetic risk assessment based on disease age of onset.


2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alessandro Gialluisi ◽  
Mafalda Giovanna Reccia ◽  
Nicola Modugno ◽  
Teresa Nutile ◽  
Alessia Lombardi ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative movement disorder affecting 1–5% of the general population for which neither effective cure nor early diagnostic tools are available that could tackle the pathology in the early phase. Here we report a multi-stage procedure to identify candidate genes likely involved in the etiopathogenesis of PD. Methods The study includes a discovery stage based on the analysis of whole exome data from 26 dominant late onset PD families, a validation analysis performed on 1542 independent PD patients and 706 controls from different cohorts and the assessment of polygenic variants load in the Italian cohort (394 unrelated patients and 203 controls). Results Family-based approach identified 28 disrupting variants in 26 candidate genes for PD including PARK2, PINK1, DJ-1(PARK7), LRRK2, HTRA2, FBXO7, EIF4G1, DNAJC6, DNAJC13, SNCAIP, AIMP2, CHMP1A, GIPC1, HMOX2, HSPA8, IMMT, KIF21B, KIF24, MAN2C1, RHOT2, SLC25A39, SPTBN1, TMEM175, TOMM22, TVP23A and ZSCAN21. Sixteen of them have not been associated to PD before, were expressed in mesencephalon and were involved in pathways potentially deregulated in PD. Mutation analysis in independent cohorts disclosed a significant excess of highly deleterious variants in cases (p = 0.0001), supporting their role in PD. Moreover, we demonstrated that the co-inheritance of multiple rare variants (≥ 2) in the 26 genes may predict PD occurrence in about 20% of patients, both familial and sporadic cases, with high specificity (> 93%; p = 4.4 × 10− 5). Moreover, our data highlight the fact that the genetic landmarks of late onset PD does not systematically differ between sporadic and familial forms, especially in the case of small nuclear families and underline the importance of rare variants in the genetics of sporadic PD. Furthermore, patients carrying multiple rare variants showed higher risk of manifesting dyskinesia induced by levodopa treatment. Conclusions Besides confirming the extreme genetic heterogeneity of PD, these data provide novel insights into the genetic of the disease and may be relevant for its prediction, diagnosis and treatment.



2021 ◽  
Vol 13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yu-wen Zhao ◽  
Hong-xu Pan ◽  
Zhenhua Liu ◽  
Yige Wang ◽  
Qian Zeng ◽  
...  

Background: Recent years have witnessed an increasing number of studies indicating an essential role of the lysosomal dysfunction in Parkinson’s disease (PD) at the genetic, biochemical, and cellular pathway levels. In this study, we investigated the association between rare variants in lysosomal storage disorder (LSD) genes and Chinese mainland PD.Methods: We explored the association between rare variants of 69 LSD genes and PD in 3,879 patients and 2,931 controls from Parkinson’s Disease &amp; Movement Disorders Multicenter Database and Collaborative Network in China (PD-MDCNC) using next-generation sequencing, which were analyzed by using the optimized sequence kernel association test.Results: We identified the significant burden of rare putative LSD gene variants in Chinese mainland patients with PD. This association was robust in familial or sporadic early-onset patients after excluding the GBA variants but not in sporadic late-onset patients. The burden analysis of variant sets in genes of LSD subgroups revealed a suggestive significant association between variant sets in genes of sphingolipidosis deficiency disorders and familial or sporadic early-onset patients. In contrast, variant sets in genes of sphingolipidoses, mucopolysaccharidoses, and post-translational modification defect disorders were suggestively associated with sporadic late-onset patients. Then, SMPD1 and other four novel genes (i.e., GUSB, CLN6, PPT1, and SCARB2) were suggestively associated with sporadic early-onset or familial patients, whereas GALNS and NAGA were suggestively associated with late-onset patients.Conclusion: Our findings supported the association between LSD genes and PD and revealed several novel risk genes in Chinese mainland patients with PD, which confirmed the importance of lysosomal mechanisms in PD pathogenesis. Moreover, we identified the genetic heterogeneity in early-onset and late-onset of patients with PD, which may provide valuable suggestions for the treatment.



2021 ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Yong-Ping Chen ◽  
Xiao-Jing Gu ◽  
Wei Song ◽  
Yan-Bing Hou ◽  
Ru-Wei Ou ◽  
...  

Background: Genetic studies have indicated that variants in several lysosomal genes are risk factors for idiopathic Parkinson’s disease (PD). However, the role of lysosomal genes in PD in Asian populations is largely unknown. Objective: This study aimed to analyze rare variants in lysosomal related genes in Chinese population with early-onset and familial PD. Methods: In total, 1,136 participants, including 536 and 600 patients with sporadic early-onset PD (SEOPD) and familial PD, respectively, underwent whole-exome sequencing to assess the genetic etiology. Rare variants in PD were investigated in 67 candidate lysosomal related genes (LRGs), including 15 lysosomal function-related genes and 52 lysosomal storage disorder genes. Results: Compared with the autosomal dominant PD (ADPD) or SEOPD cohorts, a much higher proportion of patients with multiple rare damaging variants of LRGs were found in the autosomal recessive PD (ARPD) cohort. At a gene level, rare damaging variants in GBA and MAN2B1 were enriched in PD, but in SCARB2, MCOLN1, LYST, VPS16, and VPS13C were much less in patients. At an allele level, GBA p. Leu483Pro was found to increase the risk of PD. Genotype-phenotype correlation showed no significance in the clinical features among patients carrying a discrepant number of rare variants in LRGs. Conclusion: Our study suggests rare variants in LRGs might be more important in the pathogenicity of ARPD cases compared with ADPD or SEOPD. We further confirm rare variants in GBA are involve in PD pathogenecity and other genes associated with PD identified in this study should be supported with more evidence.



2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 ◽  
pp. 1-5
Author(s):  
Imane Smaili ◽  
Imane Hajjaj ◽  
Rachid Razine ◽  
Houyam Tibar ◽  
Ayyoub Salmi ◽  
...  

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is the second most common neurodegenerative disorder after Alzheimer disease. Five to ten percent of patients have monogenic form of the disease, while most of sporadic PD cases are caused by the combination of genetic and environmental factors. Microtubule-associated protein tau (MAPT) has been appointed as one of the most important risk factors for several neurodegenerative diseases including PD. MAPT is characterized by an inversion in chromosome 17 resulting in two distinct haplotypes H1 and H2. Studies described a significant association of MAPT H1j subhaplotype with PD risk, while H2 haplotype was associated with Parkinsonism, particularly to its bradykinetic component. We report here an isolated case displaying an akinetic-rigid form of PD, with age of onset of 41 years and a good response to levodopa, who developed dementia gradually during the seven years of disease progression. The patient does not carry the LRRK2 G2019S mutation, copy number variations, nor pathogenic and rare variants in known genes associated with PD. MAPT subhaplotype genotyping revealed that the patient has the H1j/H2 diplotype, his mother H1j/H1j, his two healthy brothers H1j/H1v and his deceased father was by deduction H1v/H2. The H1j/H2 diplotype was shown in a total of 3 PD patients among 80, who also did not have known PD-causing mutation and in 1 out of 92 healthy individual controls. The three patients with this diplotype all have a similar clinical phenotype. Our results suggest that haplotypes H1j and H2 are strong risk factor alleles, and their combination could be responsible for early onset of PD with dementia.



2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaojing Gu ◽  
Yanbing Hou ◽  
Yongping Chen ◽  
Ruwei Ou ◽  
Bei Cao ◽  
...  

Abstract BackgroundDysfunction of the ubiquitination proteasome system (UPS) is important in the pathogenesis of Parkinson’s disease (PD). Patients with early onset PD (EOPD) are more susceptible to genetic factors. We systematically examined the overlaps between E3 ubiquitin ligase genes and EOPD. MethodsA total of 695 EOPD patients were sequenced with whole exome sequencing. Aggregate burden for rare variants (Minor allele frequency <0.001 and <0.0001) in a total of 44 E3 ubiquitin ligase genes causing disorders involved in the nervous system were analyzed.ResultsThere was significant enrichment of the rare and rare damaging variants in the E3 ubiquitin ligase genes in EOPD patients. Detailly, at the gene-based level, the strongest associations were found in HERC1, IRF2BPL, KMT2D, RAPSN, RLIM, RNF168 and RNF216. ConclusionOur findings highlight the importance of the UPS mechanism in the pathogenesis of PD from the genetic perspective. Moreover, our study also expanded the susceptible gene spectrum for PD.



Genes ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 430
Author(s):  
Steven R. Bentley ◽  
Ilaria Guella ◽  
Holly E. Sherman ◽  
Hannah M. Neuendorf ◽  
Alex M. Sykes ◽  
...  

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is typically sporadic; however, multi-incident families provide a powerful platform to discover novel genetic forms of disease. Their identification supports deciphering molecular processes leading to disease and may inform of new therapeutic targets. The LRRK2 p.G2019S mutation causes PD in 42.5–68% of carriers by the age of 80 years. We hypothesise similarly intermediately penetrant mutations may present in multi-incident families with a generally strong family history of disease. We have analysed six multiplex families for missense variants using whole exome sequencing to find 32 rare heterozygous mutations shared amongst affected members. Included in these mutations was the KCNJ15 p.R28C variant, identified in five affected members of the same family, two elderly unaffected members of the same family, and two unrelated PD cases. Additionally, the SIPA1L1 p.R236Q variant was identified in three related affected members and an unrelated familial case. While the evidence presented here is not sufficient to assign causality to these rare variants, it does provide novel candidates for hypothesis testing in other modestly sized families with a strong family history. Future analysis will include characterisation of functional consequences and assessment of carriers in other familial cases.



2021 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bin Li ◽  
Guihu Zhao ◽  
Qiao Zhou ◽  
Yali Xie ◽  
Zheng Wang ◽  
...  

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a complex neurodegenerative disorder with a strong genetic component. A growing number of variants and genes have been reported to be associated with PD; however, there is no database that integrate different type of genetic data, and support analyzing of PD-associated genes (PAGs). By systematic review and curation of multiple lines of public studies, we integrate multiple layers of genetic data (rare variants and copy-number variants identified from patients with PD, associated variants identified from genome-wide association studies, differentially expressed genes, and differential DNA methylation genes) and age at onset in PD. We integrated five layers of genetic data (8302 terms) with different levels of evidences from more than 3,000 studies and prioritized 124 PAGs with strong or suggestive evidences. These PAGs were identified to be significantly interacted with each other and formed an interconnected functional network enriched in several functional pathways involved in PD, suggesting these genes may contribute to the pathogenesis of PD. Furthermore, we identified 10 genes were associated with a juvenile-onset (age ≤ 30 years), 11 genes were associated with an early-onset (age of 30–50 years), whereas another 10 genes were associated with a late-onset (age &gt; 50 years). Notably, the AAOs of patients with loss of function variants in five genes were significantly lower than that of patients with deleterious missense variants, while patients with VPS13C (P = 0.01) was opposite. Finally, we developed an online database named Gene4PD (http://genemed.tech/gene4pd) which integrated published genetic data in PD, the PAGs, and 63 popular genomic data sources, as well as an online pipeline for prioritize risk variants in PD. In conclusion, Gene4PD provides researchers and clinicians comprehensive genetic knowledge and analytic platform for PD, and would also improve the understanding of pathogenesis in PD.



1992 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 147-160 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wayne G. J. Reid

One hundred and seven newly diagnosed, untreated patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) were divided into two groups according to their age at reported onset of symptoms. Of these, 79 patients were under age 70 (early-onset) and 28 patients were age 70 and over (late-onset). The group of 50 control subjects comprised spouses, friends of the PD patients, and community volunteers. The patients were participants in a multicenter drug study of Parkinson's disease. Each had received a detailed neurological and neuropsychological assessment in the baseline placebo phases of the study. Thirty-4 patients with early-onset and 12 patients with late-onset were reassessed 3 years after treatment with low-dose levodopa, with bromocriptine, or with a combination of the two drugs. The results of the baseline phase of the study revealed that 8% of the early-onset group and 32% of the late-onset group were classified as demented. The 3-year follow-up revealed that the prevalence of dementia had increased to 17% in the early-onset group and to 83% in the late-onset group. This study confirms that at least two distinct subtypes of Parkinson's disease exist. The subtypes differ both clinically and neuropsychologically. The age at onset of symptoms is a critical determinant of the rate and type of cognitive decline in Parkinson's disease.



Author(s):  
Hee Kyung Park ◽  
Jae-Jung Lee ◽  
Young-Min Park

ABSTRACT:Background:Serotonergic dysfunction may play an important role in motor and nonmotor symptoms of Parkinson’s disease (PD). The loudness dependence of auditory evoked potentials (LDAEP) has been used to evaluate serotonergic activity. Therefore, this study aimed to determine central serotonergic activity using LDAEP in de novo PD according to the age at onset and changes in serotonergic activity after dopaminergic treatment.Methods:A total of 30 patients with unmedicated PD, 16 in the early-onset and 14 in the late-onset groups, were enrolled. All subjects underwent comprehensive neurological examination, laboratory tests, the Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale, and LDAEP. The LDAEP was calculated as the slope of the two N1/P2 peaks measured at the Cz electrode, first at baseline conditions (pretreatment) and a second time after 12 weeks (post-treatment) following dopaminergic medications.Results:The absolute values of pretreatment N1/P2 LDAEP (early-onset: late-onset, 0.99 ± 0.68: 1.62 ± 0.88, p = 0.035) and post-treatment N1 LDAEP (early-onset: late-onset, −0.61 ± 0.61: −1.26 ± 0.91, p = 0.03) were significantly lower in the early-onset group compared with those of the late-onset group. In addition, a higher value of pretreatment N1/P2 LDAEP was significantly correlated with the late-onset group (coefficient = 1.204, p = 0.044). The absolute value of the N1 LDAEP decreased after 12 weeks of taking dopaminergic medication (pretreatment: post-treatment, −1.457 ± 1.078: −0.904 ± 0.812, p = 0.0018).Conclusions:Based on the results of this study, LDAEP could be a marker for serotonergic neurotransmission in PD. Central serotonergic activity assessed by LDAEP may be more preserved in early-onset PD patients and can be altered with dopaminergic medication.



Author(s):  
Ke Sheng ◽  
Weidong Fang ◽  
Yingcheng Zhu ◽  
Guangying Shuai ◽  
Dezhi Zou ◽  
...  


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