The protein products of the 11 candidate genes were interconnected (principally through a second-degree level of connection) with several proteins that are also relevant for mendelian forms of PD and parkinsonism (Figure 2A). The number of connections to known PD and parkinsonism genes (n = 9) was significantly higher than expected by chance (P < 1 × 10−3) based on a random simulation of 1000 control networks (Figure 2B). This result suggests a disease-specific and consistent interaction between protein products of our candidate genes and mendelian PD and parkinsonism genes.
