GENETIC DISSECTION OF FAMILIAL PARKINSONS-DISEASE

In the past few years, the genetic contribution to Parkinson's disease (PD) has gained major attention and has resulted in the identificatio n of the first mutant gene, called alpha-synuclein, involved in the pa thogenesis of autosomal-dominant PD.alpha-Synuclein is a major compone nt of Lewy bodies, which are a neuropathological feature of PD, furthe rmore, deletions in the parkin gene have been identified as the primar y cause in rare forms of autosomal-recessive juvenile PD.The elucidati on of polygenic changes in the dopamine pathway, mitochondrial dysfunc tion, and metabolism of xenobiotics is now technically possible by mea ns of association and genotype studies.The increasing knowledge of the pathogenesis of PD at a molecular level will have important implicati ons for the development of individual therapeutic strategies to preven t disease progression.