Parkinson is the second most common neurodegenerative disease after Alzheimers. About 1 percent of people over the age of 65 and 3 percent of people over the age of 75 are affected by the disease. The mutation is the most common cause of Parkinson disease identified to date. The function of Park2 is not well-known; however, it may play a role in the ubiquitin-mediated proteolytic pathway. Mutations in this gene are known to cause autosomal recessive juvenile parkinsonism. Alternative splicing of this gene produces three known products of undetermined function. Panneuronal expression of Parkin substrate Pael-R causes age-dependent selective degeneration of Drosophila dopaminergic (DA) neurons; coexpression of Parkin degrades Pael-R and suppresses its toxicity.

HUMAN

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