Differences in a dinucleotide repeat polymorphism in the tau gene between Caucasian and japanese populations: Implication for progressive supranuclear palsy

Chris Conrad, Naoji Amano, Athena Andreadis, Yu Xia, Kazuhiko Namekataf, Fumitaka Oyama, Kenji Ikeda, Koichi Wakabayashi, Hitoshi Takahashi, Leon J. Thal, Robert Katzman, Deborah A. Shackelford, Masaaki Matsushita, Eliezer Masliah, Akira Sawa

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

42 Scopus citations

Abstract

Previous studies of a tau polymorphism in Caucasian subjects with progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) showed an over-representation of one genotype, AO/AO, versus normal control subjects. This result suggested that tau may be playing a genetic role in the progression of PSP. This study examines whether the over-representation of AO/AO is Caucasian-specific or universal to PSP. Unfortunately, we found this dinucleotide repeat was relatively non-polymorphic in Japanese subjects. As a result, the genotypes were virtually the same, AO/AO, between Japanese PSP and control subjects. However, this outcome, albeit negative, does suggest two possible roles of the tau gene in PSP pathogenesis: (1) the role of this dinucleotide repeat in PSP may be different between Caucasian and Japanese populations or (2) this repeat may not be causal for PSP but represents a marker for other molecular genetic risk factors within or close to the tau gene on chromosome 17.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)135-137
Number of pages3
JournalNeuroscience Letters
Volume250
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Jun 19 1998
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Alzheimer's disease
  • Caucasian
  • Chromosome 17
  • Dinucleotide repeat
  • Exon 10
  • Intron
  • Japanese
  • Progressive supranuclear palsy
  • Tau

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Neuroscience

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Differences in a dinucleotide repeat polymorphism in the tau gene between Caucasian and japanese populations: Implication for progressive supranuclear palsy'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this