Leucine Rich Repeat Kinase 2 (LRRK2)

LRRK2 encodes a protein with an ankyrin repeat region, a leucine-rich repeat (LRR) domain, a kinase domain, a DFG-like motif, a RAS domain, a GTPase domain, an MLK-like domain, and a WD40 domain. The protein is present largely in the cytoplasm but also associates with the mitochondrial outer membrane.LRRK2 interacts with the C-terminal R2 RING finger domain of parkin, and parkin interacted with the COR domain of LRRK2. Expression of mutant LRRK2 induced apoptotic cell death in neuroblastoma cells and in mouse cortical neurons. Mutations in this gene have been associated with Parkinson"""s disease type 8.Four LRRK2 gene variants found are found in a third of Parkinson’s cases, but infrequent in the general population.