Increased concentrations of GPNMB in blood samples could be biomarker for Parkinson's disease

A large team of researchers working at the University of Pennsylvania, has found evidence that suggests increased concentrations of the transmembrane protein Glycoprotein Nonmetastatic Melanoma Protein B (GPNMB) in blood samples could be an early biomarker for Parkinson's disease. In their paper published in the journal Science, the group describes how they studied possible risk factors associated with chromosome 7 in Parkinson's disease patients and what they found regarding a link to the GPNMB. Brit Mollenhauer and Christine A. F. von Arnim have published a Perspectives piece in the same journal issue outlining the work done by the team in Philadelphia.