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Stem cells

Down's syndrome link to ageing

Nature volume 501, pages 325–326 (2013)Cite this article

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Triplication of the enzyme USP16 in models of Down's syndrome creates defects in the stem cells resident in adult tissues. This finding provides insight into stem-cell homeostasis during ageing. See Article p.380

Down's syndrome is a complex developmental disorder involving congenital malformation and mental retardation. It affects 1 in about 700 individuals, and is caused by an extra copy of chromosome 21. Individuals with Down's syndrome therefore have three copies (trisomy) of some 300 protein-encoding genes, and of an even larger number of non-coding RNA sequences. Although a few candidate genes have been linked to the spectrum of disorders associated with Down's syndrome, generally it is unclear how trisomy of specific genes contributes to the condition. In a paper published on Nature's website today, Adorno et al.1 (page 380) implicate the deubiquitinating enzyme Usp16 in an impaired ability of adult-tissue stem cells to self-renewFootnote 1.

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Figure 1: An altered threshold for stress.

Notes

  1. *This article and the paper under discussion1 were published online on 11 September 2013.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. George P. Souroullas and Norman E. Sharpless are in the Departments of Medicine and Genetics, Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599-7295, USA.,

    George P. Souroullas & Norman E. Sharpless

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  1. George P. Souroullas
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  2. Norman E. Sharpless
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Correspondence to Norman E. Sharpless.

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Souroullas, G., Sharpless, N. Down's syndrome link to ageing. Nature 501, 325–326 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature12558

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