A phenotypically robust model of spinal and bulbar muscular atrophy in Drosophila.

Spinal and bulbar muscular atrophy (SBMA) is an X-linked disorder that affects males who inherit the androgen receptor (AR) gene with an abnormal CAG triplet repeat expansion. The resulting protein contains an elongated polyglutamine (polyQ) tract and causes motor neuron degeneration in an androgen-dependent manner. The precise molecular sequelae of SBMA are unclear.

The role of ubiquitination in spinal and bulbar muscular atrophy.

Spinal and bulbar muscular atrophy (SBMA) is a neurodegenerative and neuromuscular genetic disease caused by the expansion of a polyglutamine-encoding CAG tract in the androgen receptor (AR) gene. The AR is an important transcriptional regulator of the nuclear hormone receptor superfamily; its levels are regulated in many ways including by ubiquitin-dependent degradation. Ubiquitination is a post-translational modification (PTM) which plays a key role in both AR transcriptional activity and its degradation.

Alzheimer's disease tau is a prominent pathology in LRRK2 Parkinson's disease.

Mutations in leucine-rich repeat kinase 2 (LRRK2) are the most common cause of familial Parkinson's disease (PD). While the clinical presentation of LRRK2 mutation carriers is similar to that of idiopathic PD (iPD) patients, the neuropathology of LRRK2 PD is less clearly defined. Lewy bodies (LBs) composed of α-synuclein are a major feature of iPD, but are not present in all LRRK2 PD cases.

LRRK2 inhibition does not impart protection from α-synuclein pathology and neuron death in non-transgenic mice.

Mutations in leucine-rich repeat kinase 2 (LRRK2) are one of the most common causes of familial Parkinson's disease (PD). The most common mutations in the LRRK2 gene induce elevated kinase activity of the LRRK2 protein. Recent studies have also suggested that LRRK2 kinase activity may be elevated in idiopathic PD patients, even in the absence of LRRK2 mutations.