Mitochondrial alterations and tendency to apoptosis in peripheral blood cells from children with Down syndrome

Roat, Erika; Prada, Nicole; Ferraresi, Roberta; Giovenzana, Chiara; Nasi, Milena; Troiano, Leonarda; Pinti, Marcello; Nemes, Elisa; Lugli, Enrico; Biagioni, Ornella; Mariotti, Mauro; Ciacci, Luigi; Consolo, Ugo; Balli, Fiorella; Cossarizza, Andrea

doi:10.1016/j.febslet.2006.12.058

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Volume 581, Issue 3 , Pages 521-525, 6 February 2007

Mitochondrial alterations and tendency to apoptosis in peripheral blood cells from children with Down syndrome

Edited by Jesus Avila

Erika Roat
- Chair of Immunology, Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, via Campi 287, 41100 Modena, Italy
- E. Roat and N. Prada have equally contributed to this work.
Nicole Prada
- Chair of Immunology, Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, via Campi 287, 41100 Modena, Italy
- Department of Pathobiology, University of Palermo, via Tukory 211, 90134 Palermo, Italy
- E. Roat and N. Prada have equally contributed to this work.
Roberta Ferraresi
- Chair of Immunology, Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, via Campi 287, 41100 Modena, Italy
Chiara Giovenzana
- Chair of Immunology, Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, via Campi 287, 41100 Modena, Italy
Milena Nasi
- Chair of Immunology, Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, via Campi 287, 41100 Modena, Italy
Leonarda Troiano
- Chair of Immunology, Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, via Campi 287, 41100 Modena, Italy
Marcello Pinti
- Chair of Immunology, Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, via Campi 287, 41100 Modena, Italy
Elisa Nemes
- Chair of Immunology, Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, via Campi 287, 41100 Modena, Italy
Enrico Lugli
- Chair of Immunology, Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, via Campi 287, 41100 Modena, Italy
Ornella Biagioni
- Department of Child Neuropsychiatry, AUSL Modena, via Cardarelli 45, 41100 Modena, Italy
Mauro Mariotti
- Department of Child Neuropsychiatry, AUSL Modena, via Cardarelli 45, 41100 Modena, Italy
Luigi Ciacci
- Department of Neurosciences, Head–Neck, Rehabilitation, Section of Dentistry and Maxillofacial Surgery, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, via del Pozzo 71, 41100 Modena, Italy
Ugo Consolo
- Department of Neurosciences, Head–Neck, Rehabilitation, Section of Dentistry and Maxillofacial Surgery, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, via del Pozzo 71, 41100 Modena, Italy
Fiorella Balli
- Department of Pediatrics, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, via del Pozzo 71, 41100 Modena, Italy
Andrea Cossarizza
- Chair of Immunology, Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, via Campi 287, 41100 Modena, Italy
- Corresponding author. Fax: +39 0 59 2055426.

Received 5 December 2006; accepted 26 December 2006. published online 17 January 2007.

Abstract

Different types of cells from subjects with Down syndrome (DS) have an increased susceptibility to cell death. We have studied apoptosis and mitochondrial (mt) membrane potential (ΔΨ_m) in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from DS children and age-matched healthy donors after in vitro treatment with apoptogenic molecules, along with mtDNA content. We found that PBMC from DS and healthy controls had a similar tendency to undergo apoptosis and a similar amount of mtDNA. However, in cells from DS subjects, mitochondria showed a higher loss of ΔΨ_m, underlying the presence of an increasing susceptibility of these organelles to damaging agents.

Keywords: Down syndrome, Mitochondria, mtDNA, Apoptosis