Browsing by Author "Smith, Danielle"

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    A blood-based marker of mitochondrial DNA damage in Parkinson's disease
    (American Association for the Advancement of Science, 2023) Qi, Rui; Sammler, Esther; Gonzalez-Hunt, Claudia P.; Barraza, Ivana; Pena, Nicholas; Rouanet, Jeremy P.; Naaldijk, Yahaira; Goodson, Steven; Fuzzati, Marie; Blandini, Fabio; Erickson, Kirk I.; Weinstein, Andrea M.; Lutz, Michael W.; Kwok, John B.; Halliday, Glenda M.; Dzamko, Nicolas; Padmanabhan, Shalini; Alcalay, Roy N.; Waters, Cheryl; Hogarth, Penelope; Simuni, Tanya; Smith, Danielle; Marras, Connie; Tonelli, Francesca; Alessi, Dario R.; West, Andrew B.; Shiva, Sruti; Hilfiker, Sabine; Sanders, Laurie H.; Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery and Hospital Dentistry, School of Dentistry
    Parkinson's disease (PD) is the most common neurodegenerative movement disorder, and neuroprotective or disease-modifying interventions remain elusive. High-throughput markers aimed at stratifying patients on the basis of shared etiology are required to ensure the success of disease-modifying therapies in clinical trials. Mitochondrial dysfunction plays a prominent role in the pathogenesis of PD. Previously, we found brain region-specific accumulation of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) damage in PD neuronal culture and animal models, as well as in human PD postmortem brain tissue. To investigate mtDNA damage as a potential blood-based marker for PD, we describe herein a PCR-based assay (Mito DNADX) that allows for the accurate real-time quantification of mtDNA damage in a scalable platform. We found that mtDNA damage was increased in peripheral blood mononuclear cells derived from patients with idiopathic PD and those harboring the PD-associated leucine-rich repeat kinase 2 (LRRK2) G2019S mutation in comparison with age-matched controls. In addition, mtDNA damage was elevated in non-disease-manifesting LRRK2 mutation carriers, demonstrating that mtDNA damage can occur irrespective of a PD diagnosis. We further established that Lrrk2 G2019S knock-in mice displayed increased mtDNA damage, whereas Lrrk2 knockout mice showed fewer mtDNA lesions in the ventral midbrain, compared with wild-type control mice. Furthermore, a small-molecule kinase inhibitor of LRRK2 mitigated mtDNA damage in a rotenone PD rat midbrain neuron model and in idiopathic PD patient-derived lymphoblastoid cell lines. Quantifying mtDNA damage using the Mito DNADX assay may have utility as a candidate marker of PD and for measuring the pharmacodynamic response to LRRK2 kinase inhibitors.
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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.