Unraveling the role of defective genes in Parkinson's disease

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a common neurodegenerative disease characterized by the loss of dopaminergic neurons leading to bradykinesia, rest tremor and rigidity. Although the majority of PD is sporadic, rare genetic causes of PD are providing tremendous insight into the pathogenesis of PD. Here I shortly review the major genes implicated in autosomal dominant and autosomal recessive PD. Understanding how mutations in these PD associated genes holds particular promise for development of new therapies to treat PD.