In the striatum in all cases other than C9orf72-HRE, FTD-MAPT and FTD-GRN we did not observe a reduction in total C9orf72 expression as compared to control brains; in contrast a trend towards an increased expression could be observed in PD cases, although the finding needs to be replicated in more samples (Additional file 1: Figure S8A). This evidence concerns the gene MAPT and frontotemporal dementia.