About the Authors

Michelle M. Mielke

Contributed equally to this work with: Michelle M. Mielke, Walter Maetzler

mielke.michelle@mayo.edu

Affiliation Departments of Health Science Research and Neurology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, United States of America

Walter Maetzler

Contributed equally to this work with: Michelle M. Mielke, Walter Maetzler

Affiliation Hertie Institute for Clinical Brain Research, Center of Neurology, University of Tuebingen and DZNE, German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases, Tuebingen, Germany

Norman J. Haughey

Affiliation Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, United States of America

Veera V. R. Bandaru

Affiliation Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, United States of America

Rodolfo Savica

Affiliation Departments of Health Science Research and Neurology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, United States of America

Christian Deuschle

Affiliation Hertie Institute for Clinical Brain Research, Center of Neurology, University of Tuebingen and DZNE, German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases, Tuebingen, Germany

Thomas Gasser

Affiliation Hertie Institute for Clinical Brain Research, Center of Neurology, University of Tuebingen and DZNE, German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases, Tuebingen, Germany

Ann-Kathrin Hauser

Affiliation Hertie Institute for Clinical Brain Research, Center of Neurology, University of Tuebingen and DZNE, German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases, Tuebingen, Germany

Susanne Gräber-Sultan

Affiliation Hertie Institute for Clinical Brain Research, Center of Neurology, University of Tuebingen and DZNE, German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases, Tuebingen, Germany

Erwin Schleicher

Affiliation Department of Internal Medicine, University of Tuebingen, Tuebingen, Germany

Daniela Berg

Affiliation Hertie Institute for Clinical Brain Research, Center of Neurology, University of Tuebingen and DZNE, German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases, Tuebingen, Germany

Inga Liepelt-Scarfone

Affiliation Hertie Institute for Clinical Brain Research, Center of Neurology, University of Tuebingen and DZNE, German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases, Tuebingen, Germany

Competing Interests

Dr. Mielke has consulted for Eli Lilly. Dr. Maetzler received honoraria from GlaxoSmithKline (2011). Dr. Thomas Gasser serves as an editorial board member of Movement Disorders, Parkinsonism and Related Disorders, Journal of Parkinson's Disease and Neurogenetics and is funded by Novartis Pharma. Prof. Gasser received speaker honoraria from Novartis, Merck-Serono, Schwarz Pharma, Boehringer Ingelheim and Valeant Pharma and royalties for his consulting activities from Cefalon Pharma and Merck-Serono. Prof. Gasser holds a patent concerning the LRRK2 gene and neurodegenerative disorders (EP2316927 A3 and US8409809 B2). Dr. Daniela Berg receives funding from Janssen Pharmaceutica, and speaker honoraria from Novartis, GSK, TEVA and Lundbeck. This work was partly supported by an unrestricted grant from Novartis. There are no further patents, products in development or marketed products to declare. This does not alter the authors' adherence to all the PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials.

Author Contributions

Conceived and designed the experiments: MMM WM NJH IL. Performed the experiments: NJH VVRB AH. Analyzed the data: MMM. Contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools: MMM WM NJH VVRB AH IL. Wrote the paper: MMM WM IL. Review and critique of manuscript: NJH VVRB RS CD TG AH SG WM DB Execution of research project: MMM WM NJH VVRB RS CD TG AH SG ES DB IL.