Browsing by Author "Halter, Cheryl"

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    Genomewide association study for onset age in Parkinson disease
    (BioMed Central, 2009-09-22) Latourelle, Jeanne C.; Pankratz, Nathan; Dumitriu, Alexandra; Wilk, Jemma B.; Goldwurm, Stefano; Pezzoli, Gianni; Mariani, Claudio B.; DeStefano, Anita L.; Halter, Cheryl; Gusella, James F.; Nichols, William C.; Myers, Richard H.; Foroud, Tatiana; Medical and Molecular Genetics, School of Medicine
    Background Age at onset in Parkinson disease (PD) is a highly heritable quantitative trait for which a significant genetic influence is supported by multiple segregation analyses. Because genes associated with onset age may represent invaluable therapeutic targets to delay the disease, we sought to identify such genetic modifiers using a genomewide association study in familial PD. There have been previous genomewide association studies (GWAS) to identify genes influencing PD susceptibility, but this is the first to identify genes contributing to the variation in onset age. Methods Initial analyses were performed using genotypes generated with the Illumina HumanCNV370Duo array in a sample of 857 unrelated, familial PD cases. Subsequently, a meta-analysis of imputed SNPs was performed combining the familial PD data with that from a previous GWAS of 440 idiopathic PD cases. The SNPs from the meta-analysis with the lowest p-values and consistency in the direction of effect for onset age were then genotyped in a replication sample of 747 idiopathic PD cases from the Parkinson Institute Biobank of Milan, Italy. Results Meta-analysis across the three studies detected consistent association (p < 1 × 10-5) with five SNPs, none of which reached genomewide significance. On chromosome 11, the SNP with the lowest p-value (rs10767971; p = 5.4 × 10-7) lies between the genes QSER1 and PRRG4. Near the PARK3 linkage region on chromosome 2p13, association was observed with a SNP (rs7577851; p = 8.7 × 10-6) which lies in an intron of the AAK1 gene. This gene is closely related to GAK, identified as a possible PD susceptibility gene in the GWAS of the familial PD cases. Conclusion Taken together, these results suggest an influence of genes involved in endocytosis and lysosomal sorting in PD pathogenesis.
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    Novel recruitment strategy to enrich for LRRK2 mutation carriers
    (Wiley, 2015-09) Foroud, Tatiana; Smith, Danielle; Jackson, Jacqueline; Verbrugge, Jennifer; Halter, Cheryl; Wetherill, Leah; Sims, Katherine; Xin, Winnie; Arnedo, Vanessa; Lasch, Shirley; Marek, Kenneth; Department of Medical and Molecular Genetics, IU School of Medicine
    The LRRK2 G2019S mutation is found at higher frequency among Parkinson disease (PD) patients of Ashkenazi Jewish (AJ) ancestry. This study was designed to test whether an internet-based approach could be an effective approach to screen and identify mutation carriers. Individuals with and without PD of AJ ancestry were recruited and consented through an internet-based study website. An algorithm was applied to a series of screening questions to identify individuals at increased risk to carry the LRRK2 G2019S mutation. About 1000 individuals completed the initial screening. Around 741 qualified for mutation testing and 650 were tested. Seventy-two individuals carried at least one LRRK2 G2019S mutation; 38 with PD (12.5%) and 34 without (10.1%). Among the AJ PD participants, each affected first-degree relative increased the likelihood the individual was LRRK2+ [OR = 4.7; 95% confidence interval = (2.4–9.0)]. The same was not observed among the unaffected AJ subjects (P = 0.11). An internet-based approach successfully screened large numbers of individuals to identify those with risk factors increasing the likelihood that they carried a LRRK2 G2019S mutation. A similar approach could be implemented in other disorders to identify individuals for clinical trials, biomarker analyses and other types of research studies.
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    Systematic rare variant analyses identify RAB32 as a susceptibility gene for familial Parkinson's disease
    (Springer Nature, 2024) Hop, Paul J.; Lai, Dongbing; Keagle, Pamela J.; Baron, Desiree M.; Kenna, Brendan J.; Kooyman, Maarten; Shankaracharya; Halter, Cheryl; Straniero, Letizia; Asselta, Rosanna; Bonvegna, Salvatore; Soto-Beasley, Alexandra I.; Project MinE ALS Sequencing Consortium; Wszolek, Zbigniew K.; Uitti, Ryan J.; Isaias, Ioannis Ugo; Pezzoli, Gianni; Ticozzi, Nicola; Ross, Owen A.; Veldink, Jan H.; Foroud, Tatiana M.; Kenna, Kevin P.; Landers, John E.; Medical and Molecular Genetics, School of Medicine
    Despite substantial progress, causal variants are identified only for a minority of familial Parkinson's disease (PD) cases, leaving high-risk pathogenic variants unidentified1,2. To identify such variants, we uniformly processed exome sequencing data of 2,184 index familial PD cases and 69,775 controls. Exome-wide analyses converged on RAB32 as a novel PD gene identifying c.213C > G/p.S71R as a high-risk variant presenting in ~0.7% of familial PD cases while observed in only 0.004% of controls (odds ratio of 65.5). This variant was confirmed in all cases via Sanger sequencing and segregated with PD in three families. RAB32 encodes a small GTPase known to interact with LRRK2 (refs. 3,4). Functional analyses showed that RAB32 S71R increases LRRK2 kinase activity, as indicated by increased autophosphorylation of LRRK2 S1292. Here our results implicate mutant RAB32 in a key pathological mechanism in PD-LRRK2 kinase activity5-7-and thus provide novel insights into the mechanistic connections between RAB family biology, LRRK2 and PD risk.