History of Parkinson’s Disease-Associated Gene, Parkin: Research over a Quarter Century in Quest of Finding the Physiological Substrate

Tohru Kitada, Mustafa T. Ardah, M. Emdadul Haque

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

5 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Parkin, the gene responsible for hereditary Parkinson’s disease (PD) called “Autosomal Recessive Juvenile Parkinsonism (AR-JP)” was discovered a quarter of a century ago. Owing to its huge gene structure and unique protein functions, parkin has become a subject of interest to those involved in PD research and researchers and clinicians in various fields and is being vigorously studied worldwide in relation to its nature and disease. The gene structure was registered under the gene name “parkin” in the GenBank in 1997. In 1998, deletion and point mutations in the parkin gene were reported, thereby demonstrating parkin is the causative gene for hereditary PD. Although 25 years have passed since the gene’s discovery and many researchers have worked tirelessly to elucidate the function of the Parkin protein and the mechanism of its role against neuronal cell death and pathogenesis remain unknown, which raises a major question concerning the current leading hypothesis. In this review, we present the results of related research on the parkin gene in chronological order and discuss unresolved problems concerning its function and pathology as well as new trends in the research conducted to solve them. The relationship between parkin and tumorigenesis has also been addressed from the perspective of Parkin’s redox molecule.

Original languageEnglish
Article number16734
JournalInternational journal of molecular sciences
Volume24
Issue number23
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Dec 2023

Keywords

  • Lewy bodies
  • PINK1
  • Parkin
  • Parkinson’s disease

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Catalysis
  • Molecular Biology
  • Spectroscopy
  • Computer Science Applications
  • Physical and Theoretical Chemistry
  • Organic Chemistry
  • Inorganic Chemistry

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