FAMILIAL EARLY-ONSET PARKINSON'S DISEASE

This article contains excellent descriptions of the clinical aspects of the Parkinson's disease and was one of the first reports showing that mutations in Parkin are a very frequent cause of this condition. Lucking et al NEJM 2000.pdf

This video explains the potential of stem cell research for  the treatmento of Parkinson's disease and other degenerative disorders. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1yCgLythe00

Here is a link to a news article about research on Familial Early-Onset Parkinson's from a lab at Stanford. The Scientists converted a patient's skin cells into neurons to study what happens to these cells over time in a petri dish. http://www.mercurynews.com/science/ci_17702124?source=rss&nclick_check=1

Here is a interesting article that describes Familial Parkinson's in two large british kindreds..check out the pedigree yikes.Nicholl2002.pdf

Deep Brain Stimulation Surgery:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1xdB1jNBu8

Animal Models:Neuron 2010 Dawson.pdf

Mike Robbins suffers from Parkinson’s Disease. He explains how a ‘pacemaker’ implanted into his brain – a surgical technique called deep brain stimulation (DBS) – can help to control his symptoms. Amazing results!

http://www.understandinganimalresearch.org.uk/resources/videos_library/details/270/parkinsons_disease/

Dr. Ole Isacson, a Harvard faculty member, has confirmed participation in our symposium addressing Parkinson's disease. He is a leader in the field of research for regenerative therapies for Parkinson's. See the website for his lab: http://www.neuroregeneration.org/

Dr. Matt LaVoie, also Harvard faculty, is a leading scientist investigating the causes of Parkinson's disease using models based on familial forms of this condition. You will also meet him at the symposium!!!

See his lab website: http://lavoielab.bwh.harvard.edu/LaVoie_Lab/Home.html

Dr. Adrian J. Ivinson, the director of the Harvard NeuroDiscovery Center has confirmed his participation in our symposiums, he will shuttle between the Alzheimer's and the Parkinson's events. See a link to the center's website:

http://www.neurodiscovery.harvard.edu/

This article gives information specifically on the PINK1 gene. It might be useful.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/omim/608309

And this is a link to a short book about early-onset Parkinson's. I haven't look through it yet, so I'm not sure if it will be of any use. 

http://publishing.eur.nl/ir/repub/asset/11217/031210_Bonifati,Vincenzo.pdf#page=68

This article does a pretty good job of pulling together all of the various forms of Parkinson's, the genes that cause them, their structure, function, mutations etc.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3044594/

Discussion of some animal models (although this isn't helpful for questions about comparisons of human and model organism protein/DNA similarities)

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3010694/?tool=pubmed

This article highlights clinical features and diagnosis of Parkinson's: http://jnnp.bmj.com/content/79/4/368.full

http://archneur.ama-assn.org/cgi/reprint/63/9/1232.pdf

This is a really helpful article about genetic testing and about the different genetic mutations in general

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/omim/608309

This article discusses the PINK1 gene very extensively, specifically, there are sections on its wild-type function, and its mutations (to PARK6) in Parkinson's disease.

http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJM200005253422103

This article discusses the relationship between PD phenotype and parkin mutations. It's very helpful!

http://www.cell.com/neuron/abstract/S0896-6273(10)00327-2

This article gives a break down for animal models for each gene (or group of genes) people look at that are associated with PD. It's a review article, but can leads to other useful journal articles (check the bibliography).

Ethical Issues in Parkinson's and the use of  DBS:

• http://media.haymarketmedia.com/documents/2/paq0209_1261.pdf (w/ DBS)

Ethical Issues in PD and placebo-controlled clinical research:

• http://www.nejm.org/doi/pdf/10.1056/NEJM199909233411312

PD & Stem Cell Research

• http://jme.bmj.com/content/33/3/169.abstract?sid=dc3474ee-c478-4765-ba4c-6e5402fee477

http://brain.oxfordjournals.org/content/131/2/389.full

a useful source pertaining to how to improve PD diagnosis

Here is a list of sources for FAD (familial alzheimer's disease) that give a brief but concise overview of the different genes that contribute to the disease: PSEN1, PSEN2, AAP. It provides a good summary of the function of each gene, it's mutations, and what results from these mutations.

Genetics Home Reference: PSEN1. 2011 Feb 27. <http://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/gene/PSEN1>. Accessed 2011 Mar 3.

Genetics Home Reference: PSEN2. 2011 Feb 27. <http://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/gene/PSEN2>. Accessed 2011 Mar 3.

Genetics Home Reference: AAP. 2011 Feb 27. <http://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/gene/APP>. Accessed 2011 Mar 3. 

This is an article that very succinctly describes the role of the Park gene in the cell. <http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10791092>.

Here's an article that addresses the effect of PINK1 mutations on its gene product:

http://hmg.oxfordjournals.org/content/15/21/3251.full.pdf+html

The abstract for this article summarizes the role of PARK2 and the results of mutations. From EBSCO host - "Familial Parkinson disease gene product, parkin, is a ubiquitin-protein ligase."

a great article describing non-traditional (i.e. non-mammalian) model organisms:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20851733

A bit old, but good overview on genetics and Parkinson's (useful for general information): JNNP 1997.pdf

In the future, this article should really be perused in detail for a good, solid understanding of PD (such as the genes associated with the disease, animal models, phenotypes of disease, and i believe biomarkers as well). The pdf can be accessed through Hollis.

Parkinson’s disease: Exit toxins, enter genetics

Marie Westerlund, Barry Hoffer, Lars Olson

Cool article about the function of the alpha-synuclein gene

http://www.sciencedirect.com.ezp-prod1.hul.harvard.edu/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6WSN-4HGD89N-1&_user=209690&_coverDate=11%2F04%2F2005&_alid=1718958077&_rdoc=1&_fmt=high&_orig=search&_origin=search&_zone=rslt_list_item&_cdi=7051&_sort=r&_st=13&_docanchor=&view=c&_ct=1&_acct=C000014438&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=209690&md5=f68256a38931119959f719fd5586d474&searchtype=a