The Alpha-Synuclein Gene (SNCA) is a Genomic Target of Methyl-CpG Binding Protein 2 (MeCP2)-Implications for Parkinson's Disease and Rett Syndrome.

Mounting evidence suggests a prominent role for alpha-synuclein (a-syn) in neuronal cell function. Alterations in the levels of cellular a-syn have been hypothesized to play a critical role in the development of Parkinson's disease (PD); however, mechanisms that control expression of the gene for a-syn (SNCA) in cis and trans as well as turnover of a-syn are not well understood. We analyzed whether methyl-CpG binding protein 2 (MeCP2), a protein that specifically binds methylated DNA, thus regulating transcription, binds at predicted binding sites in intron 1 of the SNCA gene and regulates a-syn protein expression.

Much ado about nothing? Off-target amplification can lead to false-positive bacterial brain microbiome detection in healthy and Parkinson's disease individuals.

Background: Recent studies suggested the existence of (poly-)microbial infections in human brains. These have been described either as putative pathogens linked to the neuro-inflammatory changes seen in Parkinson's disease (PD) and Alzheimer's disease (AD) or as a "brain microbiome" in the context of healthy patients' brain samples.

Methods: Using 16S rRNA gene sequencing, we tested the hypothesis that there is a bacterial brain microbiome.

L-dopa increases α-synuclein DNA methylation in Parkinson's disease patients in vivo and in vitro.

Background: Increasing gene dosages of α-synuclein induce familial Parkinson's disease (PD); thus, the hypothesis has been put forward that regulation of gene expression, in particular altered α-synuclein gene methylation, might be associated with sporadic PD and could be used as a biological marker.

Methods: We performed a thorough analysis of α-synuclein methylation in bisulfite-treated DNA from peripheral blood of 490 sporadic PD patients and 485 healthy controls and in addition analyzed the effect of levodopa (L-dopa) on α-synuclein methylation and expression in cultured mononuclear cells.

Results: α-Synuclein was hypomethylated in sporadic PD patients, correlated with sex, age, and a polymorphism in the analyzed sequence stretch (rs3756063).

Variants in the 3'UTR of SNCA do not affect miRNA-433 binding and alpha-synuclein expression.

Alpha-synuclein (SNCA) is a major risk gene for Parkinson's disease (PD) and increased SNCA gene dosage results in a parkinsonian syndrome in affected families. Regulatory regions relevant for SNCA expression include the 3' untranslated region (UTR), which among other regulatory elements contains several micro-RNA-binding sites. Interestingly, variants located in the 3' region of SNCA have been associated with PD in two genome-wide association studies.

Inactivation of the mouse Atxn3 (ataxin-3) gene increases protein ubiquitination.

Spinocerebellar ataxia type 3 is a neurodegenerative disease caused by expansion of a polyglutamine domain in the protein ataxin-3 (ATXN3). Physiological functions of ATXN3 presumably include ubiquitin protease and transcriptional corepressor activity. To gain insight into the function of ATXN3 and to test the hypothesis that loss of ATXN3 contributes to the pathology in SCA3 we generated Atxn3 knockout (ko) mice by targeted mutagenesis.

The human MJD gene: genomic structure and functional characterization of the promoter region.

Machado-Joseph disease (MJD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder caused by expansion of a CAG motif within the translated region of the human MJD (hMJD) gene which has been mapped to chromosome 14q. In this study, the hMJD gene was identified in two overlapping bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) clones and contained 11 exons resulting in a 6.14 kb transcript.