IMR Press / FBL / Volume 28 / Issue 3 / DOI: 10.31083/j.fbl2803055
Open Access Original Research
The Consideration of Pseudoxanthoma Elasticum as a Progeria Syndrome
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1 Institut für Laboratoriums- und Transfusionsmedizin, Herz- und Diabeteszentrum Nordrhein-Westfalen, Universitätsklinik der Ruhr-Universität Bochum, 32545 Bad Oeynhausen, Germany
2 E. & H. Klessmann Institute for Cardiovascular Research & Development, Herz- und Diabeteszentrum Nordrhein-Westfalen, Universitätsklinik der Ruhr-Universität Bochum, 32545 Bad Oeynhausen, Germany
*Correspondence: dhendig@hdz-nrw.de (Doris Hendig)
These authors contributed equally.
Front. Biosci. (Landmark Ed) 2023, 28(3), 55; https://doi.org/10.31083/j.fbl2803055
Submitted: 27 July 2022 | Revised: 1 December 2022 | Accepted: 2 December 2022 | Published: 20 March 2023
Copyright: © 2023 The Author(s). Published by IMR Press.
This is an open access article under the CC BY 4.0 license.
Abstract

Background: Pseudoxanthoma elasticum (PXE) is a rare autosomal recessive disorder caused by mutations in the ATP-binding cassette sub-family C member 6 (ABCC6) gene. Patients with PXE show molecular and clinical characteristics of known premature aging syndromes, such as Hutchinson-Gilford progeria syndrome (HGPS). Nevertheless, PXE has only barely been discussed against the background of premature aging, although a detailed characterization of aging processes in PXE could contribute to a better understanding of its pathogenesis. Thus, this study was performed to evaluate whether relevant factors which are known to play a role in accelerated aging processes in HGPS pathogenesis are also dysregulated in PXE. Methods: Primary human dermal fibroblasts from healthy donors (n = 3) and PXE patients (n = 3) and were cultivated under different culture conditions as our previous studies point towards effects of nutrient depletion on PXE phenotype. Gene expression of lamin A, lamin C, nucleolin, farnesyltransferase and zinc metallopeptidase STE24 were determined by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. Additionally, protein levels of lamin A, C and nucleolin were evaluated by immunofluorescence and the telomere length was analyzed. Results: We could show a significant decrease of lamin A and C gene expression in PXE fibroblasts under nutrient depletion compared to controls. The gene expression of progerin and farnesyltransferase showed a significant increase in PXE fibroblasts when cultivated in 10% fetal calf serum (FCS) compared to controls. Immunofluorescence microscopy of lamin A/C and nucleolin and mRNA expression of zinc metallopeptidase STE24 and nucleolin showed no significant changes in any case. The determination of the relative telomere length showed significantly longer telomeres for PXE fibroblasts compared to controls when cultivated in 10% FCS. Conclusions: These data indicate that PXE fibroblasts possibly undergo a kind of senescence which is independent of telomere damage and not triggered by defects of the nuclear envelope or nucleoli deformation.

Keywords
ABCC6
premature aging
progerin
lamin
Funding
K107-16/FORUM research
Figures
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