Browsing by Author "Thaler, Avner"

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    Genetic Testing in Parkinson's Disease
    (Wiley, 2023) Pal, Gian; Cook, Lola; Schulze, Jeanine; Verbrugge, Jennifer; Alcalay, Roy N.; Merello, Marcelo; Sue, Carolyn M.; Bardien, Soraya; Bonifati, Vincenzo; Chung, Sun Ju; Foroud, Tatiana; Gatto, Emilia; Hall, Anne; Hattori, Nobutaka; Lynch, Tim; Marder, Karen; Mascalzoni, Deborah; Novaković, Ivana; Thaler, Avner; Raymond, Deborah; Salari, Mehri; Shalash, Ali; Suchowersky, Oksana; Mencacci, Niccolò E.; Simuni, Tanya; Saunders-Pullman, Rachel; Klein, Christine; Medical and Molecular Genetics, School of Medicine
    Genetic testing for persons with Parkinson's disease is becoming increasingly common. Significant gains have been made regarding genetic testing methods, and testing is becoming more readily available in clinical, research, and direct-to-consumer settings. Although the potential utility of clinical testing is expanding, there are currently no proven gene-targeted therapies, but clinical trials are underway. Furthermore, genetic testing practices vary widely, as do knowledge and attitudes of relevant stakeholders. The specter of testing mandates financial, ethical, and physician engagement, and there is a need for guidelines to help navigate the myriad of challenges. However, to develop guidelines, gaps and controversies need to be clearly identified and analyzed. To this end, we first reviewed recent literature and subsequently identified gaps and controversies, some of which were partially addressed in the literature, but many of which are not well delineated or researched. Key gaps and controversies include: (1) Is genetic testing appropriate in symptomatic and asymptomatic individuals without medical actionability? (2) How, if at all, should testing vary based on ethnicity? (3) What are the long-term outcomes of consumer- and research-based genetic testing in presymptomatic PD? (4) What resources are needed for clinical genetic testing, and how is this impacted by models of care and cost-benefit considerations? Addressing these issues will help facilitate the development of consensus and guidelines regarding the approach and access to genetic testing and counseling. This is also needed to guide a multidisciplinary approach that accounts for cultural, geographic, and socioeconomic factors in developing testing guidelines.
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    Genome-wide case-only analysis of gene-gene interactions with known Parkinson's disease risk variants reveals link between LRRK2 and SYT10
    (Springer Nature, 2023-06-29) Aleknonytė-Resch, Milda; Trinh, Joanne; Leonard, Hampton; Delcambre, Sylvie; Leitão, Elsa; Lai, Dongbing; Smajić, Semra; Orr-Urtreger, Avi; Thaler, Avner; Blauwendraat, Cornelis; Sharma, Arunabh; Makarious, Mary B.; Kim, Jonggeol Jeff; Lake, Julie; Rahmati, Pegah; Freitag-Wolf, Sandra; Seibler, Philip; Foroud, Tatiana; Singleton, Andrew B.; The International Parkinson Disease Genomics Consortium; Grünewald, Anne; Kaiser, Frank; Klein, Christine; Krawczak, Michael; Dempfle, Astrid; Medical and Molecular Genetics, School of Medicine
    The effects of one genetic factor upon Parkinson’s disease (PD) risk may be modified by other genetic factors. Such gene-gene interaction (G×G) could explain some of the ‘missing heritability’ of PD and the reduced penetrance of known PD risk variants. Using the largest single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) genotype data set currently available for PD (18,688 patients), provided by the International Parkinson’s Disease Genomics Consortium, we studied G×G with a case-only (CO) design. To this end, we paired each of 90 SNPs previously reported to be associated with PD with one of 7.8 million quality-controlled SNPs from a genome-wide panel. Support of any putative G×G interactions found was sought by the analysis of independent genotype-phenotype and experimental data. A total of 116 significant pairwise SNP genotype associations were identified in PD cases, pointing towards G×G. The most prominent associations involved a region on chromosome 12q containing SNP rs76904798, which is a non-coding variant of the LRRK2 gene. It yielded the lowest interaction p-value overall with SNP rs1007709 in the promoter region of the SYT10 gene (interaction OR = 1.80, 95% CI: 1.65–1.95, p = 2.7 × 10−43). SNPs around SYT10 were also associated with the age-at-onset of PD in an independent cohort of carriers of LRRK2 mutation p.G2019S. Moreover, SYT10 gene expression during neuronal development was found to differ between cells from affected and non-affected p.G2019S carriers. G×G interaction on PD risk, involving the LRRK2 and SYT10 gene regions, is biologically plausible owing to the known link between PD and LRRK2, its involvement in neural plasticity, and the contribution of SYT10 to the exocytosis of secretory vesicles in neurons.
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    International Genetic Testing and Counseling Practices for Parkinson's Disease
    (Wiley, 2023) Saunders-Pullman, Rachel; Raymond, Deborah; Ortega, Roberto A.; Shalash, Ali; Gatto, Emilia; Salari, Mehri; Markgraf, Maggie; Alcalay, Roy N.; Mascalzoni, Deborah; Mencacci, Niccolò E.; Bonifati, Vincenzo; Merello, Marcelo; Chung, Sun Ju; Novakovic, Ivana; Bardien, Soraya; Pal, Gian; Hall, Anne; Hattori, Nobutaka; Lynch, Timothy; Thaler, Avner; Sue, Carolyn M.; Foroud, Tatiana; Verbrugge, Jennifer; Schulze, Jeanine; Cook, Lola; Marder, Karen; Suchowersky, Oksana; Klein, Christine; Simuni, Tatyana; Medical and Molecular Genetics, School of Medicine
    Background: There is growing clinical and research utilization of genetic testing in Parkinson's disease (PD), including direct-to-consumer testing. Objectives: The aim is to determine the international landscape of genetic testing in PD to inform future worldwide recommendations. Methods: A web-based survey assessing current practices, concerns, and barriers to genetic testing and counseling was administered to the International Parkinson and Movement Disorders Society membership. Results: Common hurdles across sites included cost and access to genetic testing, and counseling, as well as education on genetic counseling. Region-dependent differences in access to and availability of testing and counseling were most notable in Africa. High-income countries also demonstrated heterogeneity, with European nations more likely to have genetic testing covered through insurance than Pan-American and Asian countries. Conclusions: This survey highlights not only diversity of barriers in different regions but also the shared and highly actionable needs for improved education and access to genetic counseling and testing for PD worldwide. © 2023 International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society.