Embracing monogenic Parkinson's disease: the MJFF Global Genetic PD cohort

Background: as gene-targeted therapies are increasingly being developed for Parkinson's disease (PD), identifying and characterizing carriers of specific genetic pathogenic variants is imperative. Only a small fraction of the estimated number of subjects with monogenic PD worldwide are currently represented in the literature and availability of clinical data and clinical trial-ready cohorts is limited. Objective: the objectives are to (1) establish an international cohort of affected and unaffected individuals with PD-linked variants; (2) provide harmonized and quality-controlled clinical characterization data for each included individual; and (3) further promote collaboration of researchers in the field of monogenic PD. Methods: we conducted a worldwide, systematic online survey to collect individual-level data on individuals with PD-linked variants in SNCA, LRRK2, VPS35, PRKN, PINK1, DJ-1, as well as selected pathogenic and risk variants in GBA and corresponding demographic, clinical, and genetic data. All registered cases underwent thorough quality checks, and pathogenicity scoring of the variants and genotype–phenotype relationships were analyzed. Results: we collected 3888 variant carriers for our analyses, reported by 92 centers (42 countries) worldwide. Of the included individuals, 3185 had a diagnosis of PD (ie, 1306 LRRK2, 115 SNCA, 23 VPS35, 429 PRKN, 75 PINK1, 13 DJ-1, and 1224 GBA) and 703 were unaffected (ie, 328 LRRK2, 32 SNCA, 3 VPS35, 1 PRKN, 1 PINK1, and 338 GBA). In total, we identified 269 different pathogenic variants; 1322 individuals in our cohort (34%) were indicated as not previously published. Conclusions: within the MJFF Global Genetic PD Study Group, we (1) established the largest international cohort of affected and unaffected individuals carrying PD-linked variants; (2) provide harmonized and quality-controlled clinical and genetic data for each included individual; (3) promote collaboration in the field of genetic PD with a view toward
Open Access funding enabled and organized by Projekt DEAL. Funding text 1: Carolyn M. Sue: Intellectual Property Rights: WO 2015/157794 A1. Advisory Boards: AbbVie. Employment: Northern Sydney Local Health District, Sydney, Australia. Honoraria: The International Movement Disorder Society for course directorships and invited lectures. Patents: WO 2015/157794 A1. Grants: 2018–22 NHMRC Partnership grant (APP1151906); 2018–22 MRFF NHMRC Practitioner Fellowship (App1136800); 2020–2025 NHMRC Partnership grant (APP11179029); 2020–2023 NHMRC Ideas Grant (APP1184403); 2021–5 MRFF 2020 Genomics Health Futures Mission Grant (APP2007959); 2021–23 ASAP Project grant ; Funding text 2: Natalya Y. Abramycheva: Employment: Research Center of Neurology, Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation, Moscow, Russia. Grants: Russian Science Foundation ; Funding text 3: Rachel Saunders?Pullman: Employment: Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York City, New York, USA. Grants: NIH 1U01NS107016?01A1; Bigglesworth Family Foundation. Others: Bachmann?Strauss Chair ; Funding text 4: Zbigniew K. Wszolek: Advisory Boards: Vigil Neuroscience, Inc. Employment: Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, Florida, USA. Grants: NIH/NIA and NIH/NINDS (1U19AG063911, FAIN: U19AG063911), Mayo Clinic Center for Regenerative Medicine, PI or co?PI on Biohaven Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (BHV4157?206 and BHV3241?301), Neuraly, Inc. (NLY01?PD?1), and Vigil Neuroscience, Inc. (VGL101?01.001 and VGL101?01.002). He also serves as the co?PI of the Mayo Clinic APDA Center for Advanced Research. Others: Donations from the Donald G. and Jodi P. Heeringa Family, the Haworth Family Professorship in Neurodegenerative Diseases fund, and The Albertson Parkinson's Research Foundation ; Funding text 5: Vladimir S. Kostic: Employment: School of Medicine, University of Belgrade, Serbia. Grants: Project No 175090 Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development of Serbia. Project ??28 Serbian Academy of S