No pathogenic mutations in the synphilin-1 gene in Parkinson's disease

α-Synuclein is mutated in rare autosomal dominant forms of Parkinson's disease and is a major component of Lewy bodies and neurites. Synphilin-1, a novel protein interacts in vivo and co-localises with α-synuclein in Lewy bodies. We analysed the synphilin-1 gene in familial Parkinson's disease by single-strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) and automated sequencing but found no coding mutations. However, we identified two novel intronic polymorphisms; an A/T polymorphism in intron 2, resulting in the introduction of an Alu1 site and a second G/T polymorphism in intron 4. We analysed the intron 2 polymorphism for allelic association as it was conducive to rapid screening but observed no changes in frequency between Parkinson's disease cases and controls.