Genome-wide identification of m6A-associated single-nucleotide polymorphisms in Parkinson’s disease

•The potential role of m6A-SNPs in PD were investigated using large-scale genome-wide association studies datasets.•Twelve m6A-SNPs were retrieved from genome-wide association studies.•Five m6A-SNPs were associated with a risk of PD. N6-methyladenosine (m6A)-associated single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) play a vital role in several neurological diseases. However, little is known about the relationship between m6A modification and Parkinson’s disease (PD). We investigated potential functional variants of m6A-SNPs from large-scale genome-wide association studies (GWAS) in PD patients. The candidate m6A-SNPs were further assessed by expression quantitative trait loci (eQTL) analysis and differential gene expression analysis. We identified 12 m6A-SNPs that were significantly associated with PD risk. Further, eQTL and expression analyses identified five of these m6A-SNPs (rs75072999 of GAK, rs1378602, rs4924839 and rs8071834 of ALKBH5, and rs1033500 of C6orf10) that were associated with altered gene expression in PD. Our results suggest that m6A-SNPs could play a role in PD risk. Future studies are needed to confirm these PD-associated m6A-SNPs and elucidate their mechanisms.