An association study of a polymorphism in the heparan sulfate proteoglycan gene (perlecan, HSPG2) and Alzheimer's disease

Accumulating evidence indicates that the heparan-sulfate-proteoglycan (perlecan, HSPG2), as well as other specific proteoglycans, are involved in amyloidogenesis and tau aggregation in Alzheimer's disease (AD). Moreover, the HSPG2 is located on chromosome 1p36, a region of linkage to late-onset AD (LOAD). These two criteria, pathological and positional, make the HSPG2 an interesting candidate for an association with AD. We performed a case-control association study between the common intron 6 BamHI polymorphism at a region of putative heparan-sulfate (HS) attachment sites in the HSPG2 gene and sporadic AD in Jews. No association was detected with AD, neither as a risk factor nor as a modifier gene affecting the age at disease onset and disease progression. In addition, no interactive effect was found with the known risk factor for AD, the apolipoprotein E (APOE) ε4. These findings show no evidence for association between HSPG2 intron 6 BamHI polymorphism and AD in our population.