Cited by 107Parkinson's Disease Mechanisms and TreatmentsNuclear Receptors and SignalingNeuroinflammation and Neurodegeneration Mechanisms

Association of a common genetic variant with Parkinson’s disease is mediated by microglia

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Langston, Rebekah G., Beilina, Alexandra, Reed, Xylena, Kaganovich, Alice, Singleton, Andrew B., Blauwendraat, Cornelis, Gibbs, J. Raphael, Cookson, Mark R.·2022·Science Translational Medicine

Published version of a preprint

Abstract

Studies of multiple neurodegenerative disorders have identified many genetic variants that are associated with risk of disease throughout a lifetime. For example, Parkinson’s disease (PD) risk is attributed in part to both coding mutations in the leucine-rich repeat kinase 2 ( LRRK2 ) gene and to a common noncoding variation in the 5′ region of the LRRK2 locus, as identified by genome-wide association studies (GWAS). However, the mechanisms linking GWAS variants to pathogenicity are largely unknown. Here, we found that the influence of PD-associated noncoding variation on LRRK2 expression is specifically propagated through microglia and not by other cell types that express LRRK2 in the human brain. We find microglia-specific regulatory chromatin regions that modulate the LRRK2 expression in human frontal cortex and substantia nigra and confirm these results in a human-induced pluripotent stem cell–derived microglia model. We showed, using a large-scale clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats interference (CRISPRi) screen, that a regulatory DNA element containing the single-nucleotide variant rs6581593 influences the LRRK2 expression in microglia. Our study demonstrates that cell type should be considered when evaluating the role of noncoding variation in disease pathogenesis and sheds light on the mechanism underlying the association of the 5′ region of LRRK2 with PD risk.

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  • Studies have identified a significant association between PD risk variants and microglia.

    “Importantly, studies have identified a significant association between PD risk variants and microglia.86,87”
  • Microglia-specific chromatin regions regulate LRRK2 expression, and a specific regulatory DNA element containing the PD-associated genetic variant rs6581593 modulates LRRK2 expression in microglia.

    “The researchers identified microglia-specific chromatin regions that regulated LRRK2 expression and showed that a specific regulatory DNA element containing the PD-associated genetic variant rs6581593 modulates LRRK2 expression in microglia.”

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Authors
Langston, R. G., Beilina, A., Reed, X., Kaganovich, A., Singleton, A. B., Blauwendraat, C., Gibbs, J. R., & Cookson, M. R.
Affiliations
National Institutes of Health (US)
Corresponding author
Cookson, Mark R.
Venue
Science Translational Medicine
Published
2022-07-27
Volume
14
Issue
655
Pages
eabp8869-eabp8869
ISSN
  • 1946-6234 (ISSN-L)
  • 1946-6242
OpenAlex
W4288052118
Cited by
93
References
77
Citations by year
2026: 15 · 2025: 19 · 2024: 24 · 2023: 24 · 2022: 7 · 2021: 4
FWCI
11.55
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
public-domain
Locations
  • Science Translational Medicine (publishedVersion)
  • bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) (acceptedVersion, public-domain)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
Funders
  • Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research
  • Gladstone Institutes
  • National Institutes of Health (1z01es101986-03, Z99 AG999999, Z01-ES101986)
  • National Institute on Aging (K01AG000947, Z01AG000949, ZIAAG000947, P30AG072946)
  • National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
  • National Cancer Institute
  • National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases
  • National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (ZIANS003154)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Neurology › Parkinson's Disease Mechanisms and Treatments
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Nuclear Receptors and Signaling
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Neurology › Neuroinflammation and Neurodegeneration Mechanisms
Keywords
Parkinson's disease, LRRK2, microglia, 5' regulatory region, cell type specificity, induced pluripotent stem cell-derived microglia, CRISPRi screen, substantia nigra, frontal cortex, neurodegeneration risk
MeSH terms
Leucine-Rich Repeat Serine-Threonine Protein Kinase-2, Humans, Parkinson Disease, Substantia Nigra, Microglia, Genome-Wide Association Study

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