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Updated: Sep 4, 2026

Analyzing the Parkinson's Disease Mouse Model Induced by Adeno-associated Viral Vectors Encoding Human α-Synuclein
Published on: July 29, 2022
Activation of transposable elements is linked to a region- and cell type-specific interferon response in Parkinson's
Raquel Garza1,2, Anita Adami1,2, Arun Thiruvalluvan1,3
1Aligning Science Across Parkinson's (ASAP) Collaborative Research Network, Chevy Chase, MD 20815, USA.
Abstract:
Parkinson's disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder involving a neuroinflammatory response, the cause of which remains unclear. Transposable elements (TEs) have been linked to inflammation, but their potential role in PD remains unexplored. Using bulk- and single-nuclei RNA-seq of postmortem brain tissue from four brain regions, we studied TE transcription and its correlation with PD neuroinflammation. Over a thousand TEs, including LINE-1 s and ERVs, were expressed in a cell type- and region-specific manner in the human brain. Increased TE expression was found in microglia and neurons in the substantia nigra and putamen of PD brains, but not amygdala or prefrontal cortex, compared to controls. This TE activation correlated with an innate immune response in the same brain regions. The link between an interferon response and TE activation was mechanistically confirmed using human pluripotent stem cell-derived microglia and neurons. Our findings provide insights into TE transcription in the PD brain and suggest that TEs may contribute to neuroinflammation and pathological progression in PD.
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