title: Parkinson's genetics: molecular insights for the new millennium.
abstract: In idiopathic Parkinson's disease and familial parkinsonism, the limited number of overlapping clinical and pathological outcomes argue that a common underlying molecular pathway is perturbed. Genetic methods are a powerful approach to identify molecular components of disease. We summarize recent attempts to identify the genetic components of familial parkinsonism, without a priori assumptions about disease causation. Much effort has been expended on mapping in families with early-onset disease, in which parkinsonism appears inherited as a Mendelian trait. More recently, association methods have been employed in late-onset disease using affected sib-pairs and population isolates. These findings have been extrapolated to Parkinson's disease in the community with some success. We review the molecular synthesis now emerging from a genetic perspective.
authors.forename: Lisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Skipper
authors.forename: Matt
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Farrer
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D006801:Humans; D008025:Ligases / Q000235:genetics; D008967:Molecular Biology; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000235:genetics*; D051843:Synucleins; D044767:Ubiquitin-Protein Ligases; D016875:tau Proteins / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; D051843:Synucleins; D016875:tau Proteins; D044767:Ubiquitin-Protein Ligases; C111567:parkin protein; D008025:Ligases