Conclusions: Data suggest that FUS, TRN1 and TAF15 may participate in a functional pathway in an interdependent way, and imply that the function of TDP-43 may not necessarily be in parallel with, or complementary to, that of FUS, despite each protein sharing many similar structural elements. “
“Research into familial Parkinson’s disease (PD) remained at a virtual standstill in Europe and the US for several decades

until a re-challenge by Japanese learn more neurologists regarding an autosomal recessive form of PD. In 1965, our research group at Nagoya University examined familial cases of early-onset parkinsonism characterized by autosomal recessive inheritance, diurnal fluctuation of symptoms (alleviation after sleep), foot dystonia, good response to medication, and benign course without dementia. An inborn error of metabolism in some dopamine-related pathway was suspected. The clinical study of four families with the disease, named as “early-onset parkinsonism 3-MA datasheet with diurnal fluctuation (EPDF)”, was published in Neurology in 1973. The pathological study of a case in 1993 revealed neuronal loss without Lewy bodies in the substantia nigra. Based on these clinical and pathological evidences, EPDF was defined as a distinct disease entity.

Screening for the EPDF gene was started in 1994 in collaboration with Juntendo University. With the discovery of parkin gene in 1998, EPDF was designated as PARK2. Of our 16 families examined for gene analysis, 15 proved to be PARK2, and the remaining one, PARK6. It was acknowledged long ago that Parkinson’s disease (PD) occurs rarely in familial aggregations. Willige1 collected 12 cases of early-onset parkinsonism and noted a history of familial occurrence in half of them. He proposed regarding

the familial cases as a separate nosological entity under the name of “paralysis agitans juvenilis familialis”, although he failed Tolmetin to find essential symptomatic differences from presenile PD. Mjones,2 through a large epidemiological study, indicated a family aggregation. However, in his report there was no mention of clinical manifestations. Research into this sphere remained at a virtual standstill in Europe and the US for several decades thereafter. The re-challenge to familial PD was the discovery by Japanese neurologists of an autosomal recessive form of PD. In 1964, I joined the Neurology Section (Director, Professor I. Sobue), Nagoya University School of Medicine, Nagoya, Japan. In this section, prominent physicians were all working actively and it was full of creative energy. In October 1965, sisters with parkinsonism were admitted to Nagoya University Hospital. I was appointed to these sisters. This was my first and shocking encounter with a novel disease, later known as PARK2. We were interested in their unusual symptoms: diurnal fluctuation or alleviation of difficulties in moving after sleep. We published the cases in Rinsho Shinkeigaku (Tokyo) in 1968.