Identification of candidate genes for Parkinson's disease through blood transcriptome analysis in LRRK2-G2019S carriers, idiopathic cases, and controls

The commonest known cause of Parkinson's disease (PD) is the G2019S mutation of the LRRK2 gene, but this mutation is not sufficient for causing PD, and many carriers of the mutation never develop PD symptoms during life. Differences at the expression level of certain genes, resulting from either genetic variations or environmental interactions, might be one of the mechanisms underlying differential risks for developing both idiopathic and genetic PD. To identify the genes involved in PD pathogenesis, we compared genome-wide gene expression (RNA-seq) in peripheral blood of 20 PD patients carrying the G2019S mutation of the LRRK2 gene, 20 asymptomatic carriers of the mutation, 20 subjects with idiopathic PD, 20 controls and 7 PD patients before and after initiating dopaminergic therapy. We identified 13 common genes (ADARB2, CEACAM6, CNTNAP2, COL19A1, DEF4, DRAXIN, FCER2, HBG1, NCAPG2, PVRL2, SLC2A14, SNCA, and TCL1B) showing significant differential expression between G2019S-associated PD and asymptomatic carriers and also between idiopathic PD and controls but not between untreated and treated patients. Some of these genes are functionally involved in the processes known to be involved in PD pathogenesis, such as Akt signaling, glucose metabolism, or immunity. We consider that these genes merit further attention in future studies as potential candidate genes involved in both idiopathic and LRRK2-G2019S-associated forms of PD.