Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: EC:6.3.2.19 (ubiquitin-protein ligase)
 799 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Parkinson's disease (PD) is the second most common neurodegenerative disease after Alzheimer's disease. It is urgently needed to elucidate the cause of the disease and to establish neuroprotective treatment. We have been working on the etiology and pathogenesis of PD for many years and we found selective loss of mitochondrial complex I and the alpha-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase complex in the nigral neurons of patients with PD. Our observation firmly established mitochondrial defects in PD. Mitochondrial respiratory failure induces oxidative damage in neurons, and we found increase in hydroxynonenal and 8-oxo-deoxyguanine, indices of oxidative damage, in the nigral neurons of PD. These abnormalities can trigger apoptotic cell death. The primary events which induce mitochondrial failure and oxidative damage are not known, however, it has been postulated that the interaction of genetic risk factors and environmental factors would initiate the degenerative process. Based on this assumption, we conducted genetic association studies by the candidate gene methods. We found that polymorphic mutations of superoxide dismutase-2 and 24-kDa subunit of mitochondrial complex I were associated increased risk of developing Parkinson's disease. While we were doing this genetic association study, we found a family, in which parkinsonian phenotype completely segregated with a polymorphic mutation of the superoxide dismutase-2 gene. In this family, 4 out of 6 siblings were affected with early onset parkinsonism and the parents were apparently normal. Thus the mode of inheritance appeared to be autosomal recessive and this type is now called as AR-JP or Park2. We confirmed the linkage of this type of familial Parkinson's disease to the superoxide dismutase loci that is located in the telomeric region of chromosome 6 by the linkage analysis using microsatellite markers in this region. Then we found another family, in which an affected patient showed lack of one of the microsatellite markers (D6S315), which we were using in the linkage analysis. This observation prompted us to initiate the molecular cloning of the disease gene utilizing D6S315 as the initial probe. The molecular cloning was done with the collaboration with Professor Nobuyoshi Shimizu of Keio University. We identified a novel gene and confirmed that mutations of this novel gene were found only in the patients with autosomal recessive Parkinson's disease. The novel gene was named parkin. We conducted mutational analysis on more than 700 families with Parkinson's disease. We also established a method to detect compound heterozygotes of parkin mutations. Mutinous of the parkin gene were found in approximately 50% of autosomal recessive families. Many kinds of exonic deletions and point mutations were found. This type of familial Parkinson's disease had been considered to be unique among Japanese, but since we started mutational analysis of the parkin gene, we confirmed the world wide distribution of parkin gene mutations. Then we analyzed functions of parkin protein with the collaboration with Dr. Keiji Tanaka of Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Medical Sciences. We found that parkin protein was a ubiquitin-protein ligase of the ubiquitin system. Now we are working on the candidate substrates of parkin protein as a ubiquitin ligase. We found that CDCrel-1, a synaptic vesicle protein, was a candidate substrate of parkin protein. In addition, we found two additional candidate proteins, i.e., alpha-synuclein 22 and PAEL receptor, with the collaboration of Professor Denis Selkoe of Harvard Medical School and Dr. Ryosuke Takahashi of RIKEN, respectively. Accumulation of PAEL receptor in the endoplasmic reticulum causes endoplasmic reticulum stress and apoptotic cell death. We found evidence to indicate accumulation of PAEL receptor and the presence of endoplasmic reticulum stress in a patient with AR-JP (Park2). Thus our studies firmly established that a genetic defect of an enzyme in the ubiquitin-proteasome system induces selective nigral neuronal death. We indicated the important role of the ubiquitin-proteasome system in neurodegeneration in general. In many other neurodegenerative disorders, such as Alzheimer's disease, Huntington's disease, Machado-Joseph disease, dentatorubral-pallidoluysian atrophy, and ALS, ubiquitinated proteins are accumulated in neurons. Thus protein handling in the ubiquitin-proteasome system appears to be affected in these neurodegenerative disorders despite the difference in the primary defects. Our studies also suggest many potential approaches for the discovery of neuroprotective treatment for not only Parkinson's disease but also other neurodegenerative disorders.
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PMID:[Etiology and pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease: from mitochondrial dysfunctions to familial Parkinson's disease]. 1528 6

We report a review on progress in the etiology and pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease (PD). We also report the long-term prognosis of PD patients seen in our clinic. Modern research on the pathogenesis started after the discovery of MPTP. We found inhibition of mitochondrial complex I by MPTP and MPP+. Mitochondrial respiratory failure induces oxidative damage to high molecular weight substances. Both mitochondrial failure and oxidative stress are important triggers of apoptosis. We found TUNEL positive nigral neurons in PD patients suggesting involvement of apoptosis in the pathogenesis. Interaction of genetic risk factors and environmental neurotoxins has been implicated in the etiology of PD. While we were investigating MnSOD gene polymorphism in PD patients, we found a young onset autosomal recessive PD family that was linked to the MnSOD locus. Subsequent linkage analysis on 13 families of young onset autosomal recessive families disclosed the linkage of this disease to the telomeric region of the long arm of chromosome 6 (6q25.2-27). Then we were lucky enough to find a patient who had a deletion of one of the microsatellite markers (D6S305) that we were using in the linkage analysis. We thought this marker might be located within the disease gene and this was the case. We screened the Keio BAC library with this marker, and eventually we cloned a novel gene encompassing 1.4 Mb; we named it parkin. The coding region consisted of 1,395 base pairs. The parkin protein had an unique sequence in that there was a 30% homology in the amino terminal region and two RING-finger motives on the carboxy terminal side. This unique structure suggested that the parkin protein was related to the ubiquitin-proteasome system. Parkin protein turned out to be an ubiquitin-protein ligase. Numbers of parkin-interacting proteins were reported in the literature and accumulation of parkin-substrates is likely to be the cause for the nigral neuronal death in this familial PD. Regarding the prognosis of PD, we analyzed the patients who visited our clinic from January 1, 1989 to December 31, 2002. The total of patients recruited was 1,772. The average age of onset was 57.2 years. Mean levodopa dose at the final examination was 479 mg/day. The most common initial symptom was tremor which was seen in 51% of the patients. Total percentage of patients who had tremor during the course of the disease was 75%. Long-term prognosis was evaluated on a subgroup of the patients who visited our clinic within 5 years from the onset and Hoehn and Yahr stage III or less when first seen. Analysis was done by the Kaplan-Meier survival curve. Percentages of patients who reached Hoehn and Yahr III 5, 10, and 15 years after the onset were 24%, 46%, and 65%, respectively. Percentages of patients who developed wearing off fluctuations were 5, 10, and 15 years after the start of levodopa were 18%, 46%, and 55%, respectively. Overall mortality on the total investigated patients was 7.9%. When compared to the age at death of Japanese population, mortality of men PD patients became very close to that of the general population in the year 2003. However, that in women PD patients showed significantly shorter survival compared to Japanese female population. Average ages of onset and the death were essentially similar between men and women PD patients. Survival curves to reach stage III and wearing off showed slightly but significantly faster time courses for women compared to those of men. This was an unexpected observation and its mechanism was discussed. It is our conclusion that overall prognosis of PD patients is improving and both patients and treating physicians should take an optimistic attitude to the disease.
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PMID:[Progress in the basic and clinical aspects of Parkinson's disease]. 1565 Dec 81

Proper transcription by RNA polymerase II is dependent on the modification state of the chromatin template. The Paf1 complex is associated with RNA polymerase II during transcription elongation and is required for several histone modifications that mark active genes. To uncover additional factors that regulate chromatin or transcription, we performed a genetic screen for mutations that cause lethality in the absence of the Paf1 complex component Rtf1. Our results have led to the discovery of a previously unstudied gene, RKR1. Strains lacking RKR1 exhibit phenotypes associated with defects in transcription and chromatin function. These phenotypes include inositol auxotrophy, impaired telomeric silencing, and synthetic lethality with mutations in SPT10, a gene that encodes a putative histone acetyltransferase. In addition, deletion of RKR1 causes severe genetic interactions with mutations that prevent histone H2B lysine 123 ubiquitylation or histone H3 lysine 4 methylation. RKR1 encodes a conserved nuclear protein with a functionally important RING domain at its carboxy terminus. In vitro experiments indicate that Rkr1 possesses ubiquitin-protein ligase activity. Taken together, our results identify a new participant in a protein ubiquitylation pathway within the nucleus that acts to modulate chromatin function and transcription.
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PMID:Identification of Rkr1, a nuclear RING domain protein with functional connections to chromatin modification in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. 1728 62