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Expression of α‐synuclein, parkin, and ubiquitin carboxy‐terminal hydrolase L1 mRNA in human brain: Genes associated with familial Parkinson's disease
Author(s) -
Solano Steven M.,
Miller David W.,
Augood Sarah J.,
Young Anne B.,
Penney John B.
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
annals of neurology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 4.764
H-Index - 296
eISSN - 1531-8249
pISSN - 0364-5134
DOI - 10.1002/1531-8249(200002)47:2<201::aid-ana10>3.0.co;2-f
Subject(s) - parkin , substantia nigra , alpha synuclein , parkinson's disease , biology , ubiquitin , gene , messenger rna , gene expression , dopamine , genetics , microbiology and biotechnology , disease , neuroscience , pathology , dopaminergic , medicine
Mutations in the α‐synuclein, parkin, and ubiquitin carboxy‐terminal hydrolase L1 (UCH‐L1) genes have been linked to some cases of familial Parkinson's disease. To provide insight into how these genes may relate to each other and contribute to the pathology of Parkinson's disease, their expression was examined in normal human brain. Tissue sections from multiple regions of 11 normal human brains were hybridized with radiolabeled and digoxygenin‐labeled cRNA probes for α‐synuclein, parkin, and UCH‐L1 mRNA. Expression of each of these three genes was predominantly neuronal. α‐Synuclein and parkin mRNAs were expressed in a restricted number of brain regions, whereas UCH‐L1 mRNA was more uniformly expressed throughout brain. The melanin‐containing dopamine neurons of the substantia nigra had particularly robust expression. The expression patterns of α‐synuclein and parkin mRNAs were similar, suggesting that these two proteins may be involved in common pathways contributing to the pathophysiology of Parkinson's disease. Ann Neurol 2000;47:201–210.