Publications by authors named "D Krainc"

Article Synopsis
  • Researchers have advanced understanding of Parkinson's disease genetics through genome-wide association studies (GWAS) but have found that many genetic factors still contribute to its heritability, potentially due to interactions between variants (epistasis).
  • A new screening method, VARI3, was developed to investigate these interactions using data from numerous cohorts, successfully identifying notable variant interactions in genes like SNCA, MAPT, and WNT3.
  • The study demonstrated that these epistatic signals were present across different ethnic backgrounds, including European and Native American ancestries, and linked to important biological functions related to Parkinson's disease risk.
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Article Synopsis
  • The study explores how copy number variations (CNVs) affect the development of Parkinson's disease (PD), aiming to identify new genetic mechanisms linked to sporadic cases of the disease.
  • Utilizing data from over 11,000 PD patients and nearly 9,000 controls, the researchers discovered 14 significant CNV loci associated with PD, including various gene duplications and deletions.
  • The research highlights a higher prevalence of CNVs in specific PD-related genes among patients and suggests that certain CNVs, especially those involving the gene, may lead to earlier onset of the disease in early-onset PD cases.
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Article Synopsis
  • The study investigates the relationship between body mass index (BMI) and Parkinson's disease (PD) using a method called Mendelian randomization to determine if higher genetically predicted BMI is linked to a lower incidence of PD.
  • Researchers analyzed genetic data from large groups of individuals, including over 800,000 for BMI and nearly 29,000 for PD, focusing on factors like age, disease duration, and gender to examine the associations.
  • Results indicated an inverse relationship between genetically predicted BMI and PD, particularly among younger participants and women, suggesting that lower BMI may be associated with a higher risk of developing Parkinson's disease.
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Parkinson's disease (PD) is characterized by preferential degeneration of midbrain dopaminergic neurons that contributes to its typical clinical manifestation. Mutations in the parkin gene (PARK2) represent a relatively common genetic cause of early onset PD. Parkin has been implicated in PINK1-dependent mitochondrial quantity control by targeting dysfunctional mitochondria to lysosomes via mitophagy.

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Parkinson disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder marked by the preferential dysfunction and death of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra. The onset and progression of PD is influenced by a diversity of genetic variants, many of which lack functional characterization. To identify the most high-yield targets for therapeutic intervention, it is important to consider the core cellular compartments and functional pathways upon which the varied forms of pathogenic dysfunction may converge.

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