ORIGINAL CONTRIBUTION Collaborative Analysis of -Synuclein Gene Promoter Variability and Parkinson Disease

Demetrius M. Maraganore, MD Mariza de Andrade, PhD Alexis Elbaz, MD, PhD Matthew J. Farrer, PhD John P. Ioannidis, MD Rejko Krüger, MD Walter A. Rocca, MD, MPH Nicole K. Schneider, BA Timothy G. Lesnick, MS Sarah J. Lincoln, BS Mary M. Hulihan, MPH Jan O. Aasly, MD Tetsuo Ashizawa, MD Marie-Christine Chartier-Harlin, PhD Harvey Checkoway, PhD Carlo Ferrarese, MD, PhD Georgios Hadjigeorgiou, MD Nobutaka Hattori, MD, PhD Hideshi Kawakami, MD, PhD Jean-Charles Lambert, PhD Timothy Lynch, BSc, FRCPI, FRCP George D. Mellick, PhD Spiridon Papapetropoulos, MD, PhD Abbas Parsian, PhD Aldo Quattrone, MD Olaf Riess, MD Eng-King Tan, MD, MRCP, FAMS Christine Van Broeckhoven, PhD, DSc for the Genetic Epidemiology of Parkinson’s Disease (GEO-PD) Consortium PARKINSON DISEASE IS A COMMON neurological condition associated with increased morbidity and reduced survival. The origin of Parkinson disease remains largely elusive, but genetic factors may be important. One of the most promising leads in the genetics of Parkinson disease is the potential role of the -synuclein (SNCA) gene. Linkage studies have revealed several SNCA mutations