Dear Colleagues,

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a devastating late-life disease with increasing prevalence. Tremors occur in 15% of all patients and several other neurological diseases show similar symptoms to PD (e.g essential tremor ET), thus making it difficult to identify this disease in a timely manner. Unfortunately, dopamine agonist therapies have adverse side effects. Upon detection of PD, 80% of the dopaminergic neurons have already diminished. Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) can significantly alleviate PD symptoms. This treatment reverses the expression profiles of both coding transcripts and microRNAs. Networks of microRNAs and targets can be generated using online tools, and expression data can be deposited in publicly available databases such as Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) and Synapse. Additionally, transcript profiles in blood samples can be compared between rapidly and slowly progressing PD patients. Notably, mice exposed to 1-Methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine hydrochloride (MPTP) present with PD-like symptoms. Alternative splicing may also be detected in RNA samples from patients, and Gene Ontology (GO) pathways can be analyzed for molecular processes and biological pathways. Conclusion: Large-scale genomic studies of blood leukocyte transcript expression, particularly using the new technology of single cell sequencing, could significantly increase our understanding of the molecular mechanisms that underlie PD and perhaps also help guide RNA-based therapies (e.g using Cas/Crisper). 

Dr. Lilach Soreq and Prof. Dr. John Hardy

Guest Editors