Abstract
We performed a genome-wide association study (GWAS) in 1,713 individuals of European ancestry with Parkinson's disease (PD) and 3,978 controls. After replication in 3,361 cases and 4,573 controls, we observed two strong association signals, one in the gene encoding α-synuclein (SNCA; rs2736990, OR = 1.23, P = 2.24 × 10−16) and another at the MAPT locus (rs393152, OR = 0.77, P = 1.95 × 10−16). We exchanged data with colleagues performing a GWAS in Japanese PD cases. Association to PD at SNCA was replicated in the Japanese GWAS1, confirming this as a major risk locus across populations. We replicated the effect of a new locus detected in the Japanese cohort (PARK16, rs823128, OR = 0.66, P = 7.29 × 10−8) and provide supporting evidence that common variation around LRRK2 modulates risk for PD (rs1491923, OR = 1.14, P = 1.55 × 10−5). These data demonstrate an unequivocal role for common genetic variants in the etiology of typical PD and suggest population-specific genetic heterogeneity in this disease.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 12 print issues and online access
$209.00 per year
only $17.42 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on SpringerLink
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Satake, W. et al. Genome-wide association study identifies common variants at four loci as genetic risk factors for Parkinson's disease. Nat. Genet. advance online publication, doi:10.1038/ng.485 (15 November 2009).
Fung, H.C. et al. Genome-wide genotyping in Parkinson's disease and neurologically normal controls: first stage analysis and public release of data. Lancet Neurol. 5, 911–916 (2006).
Maraganore, D.M. et al. High-resolution whole-genome association study of Parkinson disease. Am. J. Hum. Genet. 77, 685–693 (2005).
Pankratz, N. et al. Genomewide association study for susceptibility genes contributing to familial Parkinson disease. Hum. Genet. 124, 593–605 (2009).
Maraganore, D.M.I. Collaborative. analysis of α-synuclein gene promoter variability and Parkinson disease. J. Am. Med. Assoc. 296, 661–670 (2006).
Chiba-Falek, O. & Nussbaum, R.L. Effect of allelic variation at the NACP-Rep1 repeat upstream of the α-synuclein gene (SNCA) on transcription in a cell culture luciferase reporter system. Hum. Mol. Genet. 10, 3101–3109 (2001).
Scholz, S.W. et al. SNCA variants are associated with increased risk of multiple system atrophy. Ann. Neurol. 65, 610–614 (2009).
Pittman, A.M. et al. Linkage disequilibrium fine mapping and haplotype association analysis of the tau gene in progressive supranuclear palsy and corticobasal degeneration. J. Med. Genet. 42, 837–846 (2005).
Hutton, M. Missense and splice site mutations in tau associated with FTDP-17: multiple pathogenic mechanisms. Neurology 56, S21–S25 (2001).
Polymeropoulos, M.H. et al. Mutation in the α-synuclein gene identified in families with Parkinson's disease. Science 276, 2045–2047 (1997).
Paisán-Ruiz, C. et al. Cloning of the gene containing mutations that cause PARK8-linked Parkinson's disease. Neuron 44, 595–600 (2004).
Zimprich, A. et al. Mutations in LRRK2 cause autosomal-dominant parkinsonism with pleomorphic pathology. Neuron 44, 601–607 (2004).
Singleton, A.B. et al. α-Synuclein locus triplication causes Parkinson's disease. Science 302, 841 (2003).
Johansson, A., Zetterberg, H., Hakansson, A., Nissbrandt, H. & Blennow, K. TAU haplotype and the Saitohin Q7R gene polymorphism do not influence CSF Tau in Alzheimer's disease and are not associated with frontotemporal dementia or Parkinson's disease. Neurodegener. Dis. 2, 28–35 (2005).
Skipper, L. et al. Linkage disequilibrium and association of MAPT H1 in Parkinson disease. Am. J. Hum. Genet. 75, 669–677 (2004).
Hughes, A.J., Daniel, S.E., Kilford, L. & Lees, A.J. Accuracy of clinical diagnosis of idiopathic Parkinson's disease: a clinico-pathological study of 100 cases. J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatry 55, 181–184 (1992).
International HapMap Consortium. The International HapMap Project. Nature 426, 789–796 (2003).
Purcell, S. et al. PLINK: a tool set for whole-genome association and population-based linkage analyses. Am. J. Hum. Genet. 81, 559–575 (2007).
Barrett, J.C., Fry, B., Maller, J. & Daly, M.J. Haploview: analysis and visualization of LD and haplotype maps. Bioinformatics 21, 263–265 (2005).
Gabriel, S.B. et al. The structure of haplotype blocks in the human genome. Science 296, 2225–2229 (2002).
Baker, M. et al. Association of an extended haplotype in the tau gene with progressive supranuclear palsy. Hum. Mol. Genet. 8, 711–715 (1999).
van der Brug, M.P. et al. RNA binding activity of the recessive parkinsonism protein DJ-1 supports involvement in multiple cellular pathways. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 105, 10244–10249 (2008).
Acknowledgements
We thank the subjects involved in this study whose contribution made this work possible. This work used samples and clinical data from the US National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) Human Genetics Resource Center DNA and Cell Line Repository (http://ccr.coriell.org/ninds). This work was supported in part by the Intramural Research Programs of the National Institute on Aging, the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, the National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health and the Department of Health and Human Services; project numbers Z01 AG000949-02 and Z01-ES101986. The KORA research platform (KORA: Cooperative Research in the Region of Augsburg; ) was initiated and financed by the Forschungszentrum für Umwelt und Gesundheit (GSF), which is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education, Science, Research and Technology and by the State of Bavaria.
The study was additionally funded by the German National Genome Network (NGFNplus #01GS08134; German Ministry for Education and Research) and in addition by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) NGFN (01GR0468). This work also was supported by the National Institutes of Health NINDS P30NS05710 (Neuroscience Blueprint Grant) and Clinical Sciences Translational Award RR024992 to Washington University in St. Louis and the Greater St. Louis Chapter of the American Parkinson Disease Association. Authors received support from the Medical Research Council, UK.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
J.S.-S. performed genotyping, conducted statistical analyses and participated in writing the manuscript. C.S. conducted statistical analyses and participated in writing the manuscript. J.M.B. performed genotyping, conducted statistical analyses and participated in writing the manuscript. M.S. conducted statistical analyses and participated in writing the manuscript. J.R.G. conducted statistical analyses. D.B. contributed samples and collected phenotypic data. C.P.-R. contributed samples and performed genotyping. P.L. performed genotyping. S.W.S. performed genotyping and conducted statistical analyses. D.G.H. performed genotyping. R.K. contributed samples and collected phenotypic data. M.F. performed genotyping. C.K. contributed samples and collected phenotypic data. A.G. contributed samples. J.P. contributed samples and collected phenotypic data. M.B. performed genotyping. M.A.N. conducted statistical analyses. T.I. contributed samples and collected phenotypic data. C.G. contributed samples and collected phenotypic data. H.H. contributed samples and collected phenotypic data. M.S. conducted statistical analyses. M.S.O. contributed samples and collected phenotypic data. B.A.R. contributed samples and collected phenotype data. M.C. performed eQTL analysis. K.D.F. contributed samples. H.H.F. contributed samples. B.J.T. performed eQTL analysis. S.S. contributed samples and collected phenotypic data. S.A. performed genotyping. R.Z. performed genotyping. K.G. contributed samples and collected phenotypic data. M.v.d.B. performed eQTL analysis. G.L. contributed samples. S.J.C. contributed control samples. A.S. contributed samples. Y.P. contributed samples. A.H. contributed samples. J.G. contributed samples. X.H. contributed samples. N.W.W. contributed samples and collected phenotypic data. D.L. contributed samples and collected phenotypic data. G.D. contributed samples and collected phenotypic data. H.C. contributed samples and collected phenotypic data. O.R. obtained funding and supervised genotyping. J.A.H. contributed samples and collected phenotypic data. A.B.S. designed and supervised the study, contributed samples and collected phenotypic data and participated in writing the manuscript. T.G. designed and supervised the study, contributed samples and collected phenotypic data and participated in writing the manuscript. All authors participated in critical revision of the manuscript for intellectual content.
Corresponding authors
Supplementary information
Supplementary Text and Figures
Supplementary Note, Supplementary Methods, Supplementary Figures 1–8 and Supplementary Tables 1–6. (PDF 3473 kb)
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Simón-Sánchez, J., Schulte, C., Bras, J. et al. Genome-wide association study reveals genetic risk underlying Parkinson's disease. Nat Genet 41, 1308–1312 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/ng.487
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ng.487
This article is cited by
-
The involvement of α-synucleinopathy in the disruption of microglial homeostasis contributes to the pathogenesis of Parkinson’s disease
Cell Communication and Signaling (2024)
-
A protective role of ABCA5 in response to elevated sphingomyelin levels in Parkinson’s disease
npj Parkinson's Disease (2024)
-
Cell-to-cell transmitted alpha-synuclein recapitulates experimental Parkinson’s disease
npj Parkinson's Disease (2024)
-
Neuropathogenesis-on-chips for neurodegenerative diseases
Nature Communications (2024)
-
A potential patient stratification biomarker for Parkinson´s disease based on LRRK2 kinase-mediated centrosomal alterations in peripheral blood-derived cells
npj Parkinson's Disease (2024)