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Decreased Expression of Lysosomal Alpha-Galactosiase A Gene in Sporadic Parkinson’s Disease

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Abstract

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease. To date, the causal genes and variants associated with sporadic PD are largely unknown. Accumulating evidence demonstrates that autophagy delivers alpha-syncuclein proteins to lysosome for degradation and dysfunctional autophagy is involved in the PD pathogenesis. We have previously screened a group of lysosomal hydrolases and found that alpha-galactosidase A (GLA) activity is significantly decreased in the peripheral leukocytes of sporadic PD patients. In this study, GLA transcript and protein levels were semi-quantitatively examined. The GLA transcript (P = 0.020) and protein (P = 0.027) levels in the peripheral leukocytes of sporadic PD patients were significantly decreased, compared to age- and sex-matched healthy controls. Furthermore, decreased GLA gene expression levels were strongly associated with sporadic PD (OR 3.33, 95%CI 1.17–9.52, P = 0.024). Therefore, our data suggest that insufficient GLA activity may contribute to the pathogenesis of sporadic PD. The underlying molecular mechanisms remain to be determined.

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Acknowledgments

This study is supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 30771190) and Jining Medical College Affiliated Hospital.

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Correspondence to Bo Yan.

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Wu, G., Huang, J., Feng, X. et al. Decreased Expression of Lysosomal Alpha-Galactosiase A Gene in Sporadic Parkinson’s Disease. Neurochem Res 36, 1939–1944 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11064-011-0516-0

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