Variation in the Urokinase-Plasminogen Activator Gene Does Not Explain the Chromosome 10 Linkage Signal for Late Onset AD

Abstract

Linkage studies indicate that the same region of chromosome 10 contains a risk locus for late onset Alzheimer disease (LOAD) and a QTL for plasma Aβ42 levels suggesting that a single locus may influence risk for AD by elevating plasma Aβ42 [Ertekin-Taner et al., 2000; Myers et al., 2000]. A strong positional and biological candidate is the urokinase-plasminogen activator (PLAU) gene. Eight polymorphisms spanning the entire gene were examined using case control (CC) and family-based association methods. No association was observed by any method making it unlikely that variation in PLAU explains our linkage data. © 2003 Wiley-Liss, Inc.