Absence of the G209A mutation in the α-synuclein gene in British families with Parkinson's disease

The recent identification of the specific genetic defect in a large Italian family and in three unrelated families of Greek origin with Parkinson's disease (PD) has given a new insight into the pathogenesis of PD.1 However, whether this G209A mutation in theα-synuclein gene plays any part in the etiology of other cases of familial PD remains unknown. We have looked for the presence of this mutation, which results in the creation of a Tsp45I restriction site, in the probands of 28 unrelated families of British extraction with typical PD in which at least two first-degree relatives were affected (15 males, 13 females). Nineteen were probands from multigenerational affected families in which the most likely mode of inheritance was …