Carol Markey

Localization of a Novel Melanoma Susceptibility Locus to 1p22

Over the past 20 years, the incidence of cutaneous malignant melanoma (CMM) has increased dramatically worldwide. A positive family history of the disease is among the most established risk factors for CMM; it is estimated that 10% of CMM cases result from an inherited predisposition. Although mutations in two genes, CDKN2A and CDK4, have been shown to confer an increased risk of CMM, they account for only 20%-25% of families with multiple cases of CMM. Therefore, to localize additional loci involved in melanoma susceptibility, we have performed a genomewide scan for linkage in 49 Australian pedigrees containing at least three CMM cases, in which CDKN2A and CDK4 involvement has been excluded. The highest two-point parametric LOD score (1.82; recombination fraction [theta] 0.2) was obtained at D1S2726, which maps to the short arm of chromosome 1 (1p22). A parametric LOD score of 4.65 (theta=0) and a nonparametric LOD score of 4.19 were found at D1S2779 in nine families selected for early age at onset. Additional typing yielded seven adjacent markers with LOD scores >3 in this subset, with the highest parametric LOD score, 4.95 (theta=0) (nonparametric LOD score 5.37), at D1S2776. Analysis of 33 additional multiplex families with CMM from several continents provided further evidence for linkage to the 1p22 region, again strongest in families with the earliest mean age at diagnosis. A nonparametric ordered sequential analysis was used, based on the average age at diagnosis in each family. The highest LOD score, 6.43, was obtained at D1S2779 and occurred when the 15 families with the earliest ages at onset were included. These data provide significant evidence of a novel susceptibility gene for CMM located within chromosome band 1p22.

A parkinsonian syndrome induced in the goldfish by the neurotoxin MPTP.

Parkinsons disease has been modeled in humans, lower primates, and to a lesser extent in some other vertebrates by administration of the potent neurotoxin MPTP (1‐methyl‐4‐phenyl‐1,2,3,6 tetrahydropyridine). The MPTP model has thus drawn considerable attention as a system to search for anti‐Parkinsons disease drugs, although the cost and scarcity of primates has limited extensive applications. We now report that a parkinsonian syndrome can be elicited in the common goldfish (Carassius auratus) by a single dose of MPTP. The syndrome is characterized by profound bradykinesia (slow movement), the full extent of which is reached 3 days after MPTP administration. The reduction in movement is paralleled by loss of dopamine and norepinephrine from the forebrain and midbrain and in other brain regions as well. The toxic oxidative product of MPTP, MPP+, is also accumulated predominantly in forebrain and midbrain, and pretreatment with the monoamine oxidase blocker tranylcypromine substantially reduces accumulation of the toxic metabolite. A barely perceptible coarseness in balance adjustment also occurs in treated animals. The MPTP‐treated goldfish recover normal movement and normal brain monoamine levels within 10–13 days after administration of the drug. We interpret these and other data to indicate that MPTP can induce a Parkinsons disease‐like syndrome in the goldfish that is similar in many aspects to the syndrome induced by MPTP in humans and other primates. This remarkable parallel may permit the goldfish to supplement expensive and scarce primates for the purpose of searching and screening neuroprotective drugs with specific relevance to Parkinsons disease.— Pollard, H. B., Dhariwal, K., Adeyemo, O. M., Markey, C. J., Caohuy, H., Levine, M., Markey, S., Youdim, M. B. H. A parkinsonian syndrome induced in the goldfish by the neurotoxin MPTP. FASEB J. 6: 3108‐3116; 1992.

Search for neurotoxins structurally related to 1-methyl-4-phenylpyridine (MPP+) in the pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease.

Immunoassays sensitive to a broad range of compounds structurally related to 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine(MPTP) and 1-methyl-4-phenylpyridine (MPP+) have been developed and used to test for the presence of possible chemically related neurotoxins in the brains of Parkinsons disease patients. The sensitivity and chemical reactivity of the polyclonal antibodies used in these assays have been characterized with a range of endogenous and chemically related materials. Two methods were developed and tested for extraction followed by chromatographic separation which would be applicable to stored or accumulated substances. The immunoassays were tested and applied to the assay of tissue extracts from MPTP or MPTP-analogue exposed animals, and indicated detectability of MPP(+)-immunoreactivity greater than 8 weeks after exposure to MPTP in monkey brain. No difference in immunoactivity was measured in extracts from human brains of Parkinsons disease patients or controls, and particularly low levels of immunoreactivity were found in the striatum relative to the levels measured in several cortical regions. From these studies, there is no evidence for the role of an environmental neurotoxin chemically related to MPTP in the pathogenesis of Parkinsons disease.