Our findings point to activation of wild-type GCase by small-molecule modulators as a potential therapeutic approach for treating familial and sporadic forms of PD that exhibit decreased GCase activity.
The L444P mutation in the GBA1 gene which encodes β-glucocerebrosidase-1, is a major risk factor for developing Parkinson's disease (PD) and dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB).
Gaucher's disease is a lysosomal disease caused by mutations in the β-glucocerebrosidase gene ( GBA1 and GCase) that have been also linked to increased risk of Parkinson's disease (PD) and Diffuse Lewy body dementia.
Heterozygous mutations in GBA, the gene encoding the lysosomal enzyme glucosylceramidase beta/β-glucocerebrosidase, comprise the most common genetic risk factor for Parkinson disease (PD), but the mechanisms underlying this association remain unclear.
The reduction of GCase activity in the CSF of PD and DLB patients was validated in several of them, whereas the behaviour of other lysosomal enzyme activities was not consistently reliable among the studies.
Our newly discovered allosteric site and observed GCase dimerization provide a new mechanistic insight into GCase and its noniminosugar modulators and facilitate the rational design of novel GCase modulators for Gaucher's disease and Parkinson's disease.
Mutations in the gene encoding the lysosomal enzyme acid β-glucosidase (GBA) are responsible for Gaucher disease and represent the main genetic risk factor for developing Parkinson disease.
This review discusses the structural stability of acid-β-glucosidase, which can be altered by pH and glycosylation, and explores the relationship between known Gaucher disease and PD mutations, structural stability and disease severity.
Being the most common genetic contributor to PD, glucocerebrosidase 1 (GBA) mutations have been associated with decreased GBA enzymatic activity in PD patients with mutations in the GBA gene (GBA-PD).
We hypothesized that specific mutations in the β-glucocerebrosidase gene (GBA) causing neuropathic Gaucher's disease (GD) in homozygotes lead to aggressive cognitive decline in heterozygous Parkinson's disease (PD) patients, whereas non-neuropathic GD mutations confer intermediate progression rates.
In the last decade, several lines of evidence have been presented that document the clinical manifestations, genetic associations, and sub-cellular mechanisms of the inter-relatedness of β-glucocerebrosidase mutations and the emergence of Parkinson disease among carriers and patients with Gaucher disease.
It has been shown that carrying one or two mutations in the β-glucocerebrosidase gene (GBA) for the autosomal disease Gaucher disease (GD), as based initially on clinical evidence, is a genetic risk factor for early-onset PD.
Here we measured the activity of GCase and other endo-lysosomal enzymes in different brain regions (frontal cortex, caudate, hippocampus, substantia nigra, cerebellum) from PD (n = 26), DLB (n = 16) and age-matched control (n = 13) subjects, screened for GBA mutations.
In this study, we have investigated motor and non-motor aspects in 1638 Chinese PD patients who carried LRRK2 G2385R or R1628P (LRRK2-PD, n = 223), GBA L444P variant (GBA-PD, n = 49), or none of the variants (idiopathic PD [IPD], n = 1366).
In particular, several studies, despite individual differences, have shown that mutations in the β-glucocerebrosidase gene (GBA) are a risk factor for PD.
Mutations in the gene encoding beta-glucocerebrosidase, a lysosomal degrading enzyme, have recently been associated with the development of Parkinson disease.