Trisomy 21 is the cause of Down's syndrome (DS) which is characterized by a number of phenotypes, including a brain which is small and hypocellular compared to that of euploid individuals. The cerebellum is disproportionately reduced. Ts65Dn mice are trisomic for orthologs of about half of the genes on human chromosome 21 and provide a genetic model for DS. These mice display a number of developmental anomalies analogous to those in DS, including a small cerebellum with a significantly decreased number of both granule and Purkinje cell neurons. Here we trace the origin of the granule cell deficit to precursors in early postnatal development, which show a substantially reduced mitogenic response to Hedgehog protein signaling. Purified cultures of trisomic granule cell precursors show a reduced but dose-dependent response to the Sonic hedgehog protein signal in vitro , demonstrating that this is a cell-autonomous deficit. Systemic treatment of newborn trisomic mice with a small molecule agonist of Hedgehog pathway activity increases mitosis and restores granule cell precursor populations in vivo . These results demonstrate a basis for and a potential therapeutic approach to a fundamental aspect of CNS pathology in DS.

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Background About half of people with Down syndrome (DS) exhibit some form of congenital heart disease (CHD). However, trisomy for human chromosome 21 (Hsa21) alone is insufficient to cause CHD as half of all people with DS have a normal heart, suggesting that genetic modifiers interact with dosage sensitive gene(s) on Hsa21 to result in CHD. We hypothesize that a threshold exists in both Down syndrome and euploid populations for the number of genetic perturbations that can be tolerated before CHD results. Methods and Results We ascertained a group of individuals with DS and complete atrioventricular septal defect (AVSD) and sequenced two candidate genes for CHD, CRELD1, which is associated with AVSD in people with or without DS, and HEY2, whose mouse ortholog produces septal defects when mutated. Several deleterious variants were identified but the frequency of these potential modifiers was low. We crossed mice with mutant forms of these potential modifiers to the Ts65Dn mouse model of Down syndrome. Crossing loss-of-function alleles of either Creld1 or Hey2 onto the trisomic background caused a significant increase in the frequency of CHD, demonstrating an interaction between the modifiers and trisomic genes. We showed further that although either of these mutant modifiers is benign by itself, they interact to affect heart development when inherited together. Conclusions Using mouse models of Down syndrome and of genes associated with congenital heart disease we demonstrate a biological basis for an interaction that supports a threshold hypothesis for additive effects of genetic modifiers in the sensitized trisomic population.

The UL52 gene product of herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) comprises one subunit of a 3-protein helicase-primase complex that is essential for replication of viral DNA. The functions of the individual subunits of the complex are not known with certainty, although it is clear that the UL8 subunit is not required for either helicase or primase activity. Examination of the predicted amino acid sequence of the UL5 gene reveals the existence of conserved helicase motifs; it seems likely, therefore, that UL5 is responsible for the helicase activity of the complex. We have undertaken mutational analysis of UL52 in an attempt to understand the functional contribution of this protein to the helicase-primase complex. Amino acid substitution mutations were introduced into five regions of the UL52 gene that are highly conserved among HSV-1 and the related herpesviruses equine herpesvirus 1, human cytomegalovirus, Epstein-Barr virus, and varicella-zoster virus. Of seven mutants analyzed by an in vivo replication assay, three mutants, in three different conserved regions of the protein, failed to support DNA replication. Within one of the conserved regions is a 6-amino-acid motif (IL)(VIM)(LF)DhD (where h is a hydrophobic residue), which is also conserved in mouse, yeast, and T7 primases. Mutagenesis of the first aspartate residue of the motif, located at position 628 of the UL52 protein, abolished the ability of the complex to support replication of an origin-containing plasmid in vivo and to synthesize oligoribonucleotide primers in vitro. The ATPase and helicase activities were unaffected, as was the ability of the mutant enzyme to support displacement synthesis on a preformed fork substrate. These results provide experimental support for the idea that UL52 is responsible for the primase activity of the HSV helicase-primase complex.