Park2, A Parkinson Candidate Gene, Mapped To The Telomer

National Institute On Drug Abuse

Investigators

Linked publications & trials

Abstract

PARK2 is one of the largest genes in the human genome (1.5Mb) and consists of 465 amino acids. (Kitada et al.1998) It encodes PARKIN, a protein which consists of 465 amino acids (Kitada et al., 1998). Its NH-terminal 76 amino acids are 62% homologous to ubiquitin. The COOH-terminal half of PARKIN contains two RING finger motifs which have ubiqultin-protein ligase (E3) activity (Jackson at al., 2000; Joazeiro and Weisaman, 2000). Parkinson's Disease (PD) is the second most common neurodegenerative disease. An autosomal recessive form of PD (AR-JP), which is the major cause of juvenile PD, results from mutations in the PARKIN gene (PARK2) (Kitada et al., 1998). The chromosomal localization of the mouse PARKIN gene (Park2) may aid in elucidating the physiological function of PARKIN, the regulation of its ubiqultin-protein ligase (E3) activity, and its involvement in the progression of AR-JP. Moreover, localization of this gene may facilitate the development of murine models of human AR-JP.