Measuring the Activity of Leucine-Rich Repeat Kinase 2: A Kinase Involved in Parkinsons Disease

Mutations in the LRRK2 (Leucine-Rich Repeat Kinase 2) gene are the most common cause of autosomal dominant Parkinson’s disease. LRRK2 has multiple functional domains including a kinase domain. The kinase activity of LRRK2 is implicated in the pathogenesis of Parkinson’s disease. Developing an assay to understand the mechanisms of LRRK2 kinase activity is important for the development of pharmacologic and therapeutic applications. Here, we describe how to measure in vitro LRRK2 kinase activity and its inhibition.