Abstract
Down syndrome (DS) is the most frequent chromosomal abnormality that causes intellectual disability, resulting from the presence of an extra complete or segment of chromosome 21 (HSA21). In addition, trisomy of HSA21 contributes to altered energy metabolism that appears to be a strong determinant in the development of pathological phenotypes associated with DS. Alterations include, among others, mitochondrial defects, increased oxidative stress levels, impaired glucose, and lipid metabolism, finally resulting in reduced energy production and cellular dysfunctions. These molecular defects seem to account for a high incidence of metabolic disorders, i.e., diabetes and/or obesity, as well as a higher risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease (AD) in DS. A dysregulation of the insulin signaling with reduced downstream pathways represents a common pathophysiological aspect in the development of both peripheral and central alterations leading to diabetes/obesity and AD. This is further strengthened by evidence showing that the molecular mechanisms responsible for such alterations appear to be similar between peripheral organs and brain. Considering that DS subjects are at high risk to develop either peripheral or brain metabolic defects, this review will discuss current knowledge about the link between trisomy of HSA21 and defects of insulin and insulin-related pathways in DS. Drawing the molecular signature underlying these processes in DS is a key challenge to identify novel drug targets and set up new prevention strategies aimed to reduce the impact of metabolic disorders and cognitive decline.
Introduction
Down syndrome (DS) is the most frequent chromosomal abnormality that causes intellectual disability, resulting from the presence of an extra complete or segment of chromosome 21 (HSA21). Trisomy of HSA21 is associated not only with intellectual disability but also with several morphological and physiological features. Several regions of the HSA21 contribute to DS clinical manifestations, as suggested by a number of studies performed in human bearing partial duplication (; ). However, past studies mainly focused on the “Down syndrome critical region (DSCR)” as one of the main candidate regions considered to be responsible for the majority of DS features as a direct consequence of down- or up-regulation of its target (). The DSCR region includes important candidate genes, such as the dual-specificity tyrosine (Y)-phosphorylation regulated kinase 1 A (DYRK1A), involved in brain development and learning and memory (; ); the regulator of calcineurin 1 (RCAN1), which plays a role in cell growth and immune responses but has also a role in cognition (; ); the cystathionine beta-synthase (CBS), an enzyme involved in the homocysteine/folate/transulfuration pathways (); and superoxide dismutase 1 (SOD1), which helps redox homeostasis (). All these genes have been further characterized by the phenotypic and molecular analysis of transgenic mice expressing every single gene separately, and collected data demonstrate many common pathological features with the whole HSA21 genotype (). Among other HSA21 candidates, the triplication of some microRNAs (miRNAs), in particular miR-155 (), may further contribute to modulate target genes leading to changes of neurochemical metabolites, mitochondrial deficits, and other pathological conditions observed in DS individuals (). Further, experimental evidence obtained in trisomic and monosomic mouse models allowed identification of regions outside the DSCR that are responsive to dosage that may contribute to defects in behavior and cognition and other DS pathological features (; ).
The most characteristic trait of DS individuals is disturbance of brain development associated with intellectual disability in the presence of craniofacial abnormalities (). Further, the brains from DS subjects have structural and functional deficits associated with defects in morphogenesis, leading to significant reduced brain volume ().
Most DS individuals, by their 40s, develop a type of dementia that shares many commonalities with Alzheimer’s disease (AD), such as the deposition of senile plaques and neurofibrillary tangles (). After the age of 50, the risk of developing AD-like dementia rises in DS patients up to 70%. The high incidence of the symptoms characteristic of AD in people with DS is thought to be due to triplication of genes already demonstrated to be involved in AD pathology, including amyloid precursor protein (APP), beta secretase 2 (BACE2), SOD1, and S100 calcium-binding protein B (S100B), among others (). The overexpression of APP, an integral membrane protein that is concentrated in neuronal synapses, and the consequent overproduction of amyloid beta (Aβ)-peptide is considered one of the major toxic players in the early onset of AD neuropathology in DS population (; ). It is well-known that Aβ overload is involved in the increased production of reactive oxygen species (ROS), elevated oxidative stress, and causes excitotoxicity, disturbance of cellular respiration and of synaptic functions. Accumulation of Aβ in DS brain can be observed as early as 8–12 years of age and increases during the patient’s lifespan (). Moreover, dementia features appear in DS adults in their 50s, suggesting a prodromal phase where subtle clinical signs are undetectable, although in young adults, worse performance in semantic verbal fluency test and poorer communication skills are associated with higher plasma Aβ42 concentrations and impaired communication skills (ABAS–II) (). The exact mechanisms through which trisomy 21 causes early onset of AD-like neuropathology and cognitive decline, however, need further studies ().
Down Syndrome as a Metabolic Disease
Dr. Jerome Lejeune was the first to hypothesize that DS could be considered a “metabolic disease.” This is highlighted by : “in the conference talk “Vingt Ans Après,” he explained how the one carbon cycle could be involved in the pathogenesis of intellectual disability in subjects who do not have a gross anatomic defect of the brain, and he asserted: “the goal is to figure out where a link between mental deficiency and trisomy 21 should be sought.”
To confirm the “Lejeune hypothesis,” a number of alterations on metabolite concentrations have been observed in the blood of individuals with DS compared with age-matched control subjects, in particular alteration of a number of amino acids (). Specifically, in plasma from DS subjects it has been reported to have: (i) increased levels of phenylalanine and tyrosine; (ii) reduced levels of histidine, lysine, tyrosine, phenylalanine, leucine, isoleucine, and tryptophan; (iii) higher levels of leucine, isoleucine, cysteine, and phenylalanine at an age vulnerable to Alzheimer’s changes; (iv) decreased concentration of serine at any age; and (v) increased lysine concentration in patients above 10 years old, possibly associated to accelerated aging, as reviewed in . A recent study also evidenced changes in the levels of metabolites involved in the methylation cycle, including cysteine, cystathionine, choline, and dimethylglycine. Mass spectrometry analysis reported a significant increase of the concentrations of these amino acids in DS plasma () as well as the levels of S-adenosylhomocysteine and S-adenosylmethionine (), though a previous study showed to be decreased ().
The levels of these metabolites seem to be strongly associated with triplication of CBS (). As recently reported, overexpression of CBS is responsible for reduced homocysteine levels together with reduced mitochondrial function, as indicated by accumulation of Krebs cycle intermediaries in DS human dermal fibroblasts (). In particular, Szabo et al. showed that increased production of H2S is responsible for mitochondrial deficits, in particular by inhibiting complex IV (). These results confirmed that both cytosolic and mitochondrial CBS protein levels, as well as H2S cellular levels, are markedly elevated in DS fibroblasts. Extracellular flux analysis of DS cells showed a significant impairment of mitochondrial complexes activities and oxygen consumption, and of ATP generation, which also affected proliferation rate. The specific activity of Complex IV was found to be significantly inhibited in DS cells. Interestingly, the inhibition of CBS by aminooxyacetate (AOAA), which interferes with the pyridoxal phosphate in the catalytic site, restored Complex IV activity and ameliorated mitochondrial electron transport and cell proliferation. Similar effects were also obtained by CBS normalization by siRNA (). Moreover, increased urinary thiosulfate [a stable degradation product of hydrogen sulfide (H2S)] and circulating sulfhemoglobin (addition of H2S to hemoglobin) levels have already been detected in subjects with DS ().
Formimidoyltransferase cyclodeaminase (FTCD) is another gene located on the long arm of HSA21, which encodes an enzyme that participates in histidine and folate metabolism, both essential for purine, pyrimidines, and amino acids biosynthesis. In addition, aberrant metabolism of adenosine, homocysteine, and folate was also observed in DS (; ).
Among key regulatory metabolic enzymes, HSA21 also encodes for phosphofructokinase (PFK), a regulatory enzyme in glycolysis as it catalyzes the phosphorylation of fructose-6-phospate to fructose-1, 6-bisphosphate (). Interestingly, transgenic mice that overexpress PFK liver type (Tg- PFKL) showed alteration in glucose metabolism as indexed by increased metabolic flux in brain and reduced clearance from blood (). The increased glucose utilization in the brain of Tg-PFKL mice is similar to the observed faster glucose metabolism in young DS adult brain that likely contributes to cognitive disabilities. Further, a previous report showed that PFK specific activity is twofold higher in the brains of embryonic Tg-PFKL mice (), suggesting that aberrant glucose metabolism is already pronounced in developmental period and that this early dysmetabolism may contribute to learning disabilities. These age-dependent changes of gene expression further complicate the “gene-dosage effects” hypothesis of trisomy 21, contributing to the multifaceted aberrant metabolism observed at different ages ().
Furthermore, DS subjects are characterized by an impaired lipid metabolism, although this aspect has been less investigated. Published studies report that DS children show higher levels of circulating cholesterol, low-density lipoproteins (LDL), and triglycerides with respect to age-matched controls (; ; ). Less favorable lipid profile in DS would be responsible for their increased risk of developing cerebrovascular events (; ) or overweight/obesity (; ). Whether these alterations are due to a specific overexpressed gene on HSA21 is not known yet.
In the brain, a lipidomic study performed by reported altered lipid profile in prefrontal cortex samples collected from five DS (>60 years) individuals with respect to matched controls. Of 542 identified lipids, around 350 were reduced while the others were increased in DS frontal cortex (). In particular, reduced levels of glycerophosphoethanolamines along with reduced glycerophospholipid metabolism were observed in DS (). Furthermore, the ratio of cholesterol to phospholipid concentration, phosphatidylcholine, and phosphatidylethanolamine levels were all reduced in DS frontal cortex (). These alterations were suggested to result from an impaired endocannabinoid signaling pathway in DS (). In addition, in a very recent study, demonstrated that DS fibroblast were characterized by reduced levels of sphingosine derivatives called long chain bases (LCBs), which seem to be responsible for nuclear membrane alterations associated with accelerated aging process in DS. Lower LCBs result from increased conversion to ceramide due to the activity of ceramide synthase ().
As a whole, the picture that emerges from these studies unravels a pathological metabolic phenotype of DS contributed by a number of different genes. Within this scenario, defects of mitochondrial function contribute to a general loss of cellular functions, most of which strictly depend on ATP availability (; ; ).
In catabolic tissues, mitochondria are the key organelles responsible for energy production that sustains a plethora of intracellular functions, which as a whole approximately consume about 90% of oxygen to generate ATP through oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) (). Mitochondria also participate in the oxidation, by ß-oxidation and Krebs cycle, of major macromolecules into key intermediates (metabolites) including pyruvate, fatty acids, and amino acids, which are sources of reducing equivalents, NADH, and/or FADH2.
A growing number of studies also demonstrated that loss of mitochondrial structure and function, which is associated with increased ROS production, contributes to DS pathological phenotypes (). This is not only the case for DS, but also other neurodevelopmental disorders such as Rett’s syndrome and autism (), as well as neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease ().
Reduced rate of energy metabolism due to mitochondrial dysfunction significantly impairs neuronal functions, as well as neuronal development and survival (). Indeed, ATP production and redox homeostasis in brain mitochondria are essential to sustain neural developmental processes including cellular proliferation and differentiation, axonal and dendritic growth, and generation of synaptic spine and pre-synaptic compartments (). Mitochondrial deficits in DS is mainly the result of reduced efficiency to produce ATP through OXPHOS, together with decreased respiratory capacity and disruption of membrane potential and mitochondrial dynamics. These mitochondrial abnormalities have been observed in all DS cell types from peripheral to CNS cells, as reviewed in . Thus, mitochondrial dysfunction is considered an inherent feature of DS, associated with increased oxidative stress ().
Vacca et al. analyzed mitochondrial function in fibroblasts and lymphoblastoid cells from DS subjects and found deficits in the OXPHOS system at multiple levels such as the complex I activity, the ATP synthase, the ADP/ATP translocator, and the adenylate kinase enzyme, ultimately leading to significant energy deficit and increased ROS production in mitochondria (, ). A severe bioenergetic deficit was also found in neural progenitor cells (NPCs) isolated from the hippocampus of Ts65Dn mice, a commonly used DS murine model, in which a deficit in cell proliferation was observed (). The reduced OXPHOS rate in DS could be associated with impairment of mitochondrial biogenesis, as observed in NPCs (), and in skin fibroblasts (). Defects of mitochondrial biogenesis is the result of reduced mtDNA content as well as reduced levels of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma coactivator 1-alpha (PGC-1α), nuclear respiratory factor 1 (NRF-1), and mitochondrial transcription factor A (TFAM) ().
Several bioactive compounds display protective effects on mitochondrial signaling pathways, mitochondrial biogenesis, and respiration (). Both natural and synthetic compounds show the ability to dampen mitochondrial deficit and ROS overload in DS, and are likely to be promising therapeutic strategies to ameliorate DS pathological phenotypes (). Among possible candidates, recent studies show the protective effect of epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), the major catechin in green tea, to induce neuronal plasticity () and mitochondrial function (), leading to cognitive rehabilitation in young adult DS ().
Peripheral and Brain Alterations in DS: a Look Into the Metabolic Defects Associated With Dysfunctions of Insulin Signaling Pathway
Among the metabolic alterations observed in DS subjects, dysfunctions of insulin signaling and related pathways are of interest. Although insulin or proteins belonging to the insulin signaling pathway are not encoded by genes located on HSA21, insulin signaling is at the crossroad among a number of intracellular events driving cell metabolism in terms of glucose, fatty acids, and proteins synthesis/utilization ().
The frequency of metabolic diseases associated with defects of insulin and insulin-related pathways develop with high frequency in DS subjects. Furthermore, over the past few years, it has become clear that insulin also has profound effects in the central nervous system, where it regulates key processes such as energy homeostasis and neuronal functions ().
In the next sections, we summarize the accumulating evidence on peripheral and brain defects of insulin signaling and related pathway in DS. Current findings along with pathogenic factors and consequence in terms of disturbances are discussed.
Peripheral Metabolic Alterations in DS and Possible Genetic Links
Obesity and subsequent metabolic disorders show higher prevalence in adult population with DS compared to individuals without DS. Among the weight-related and metabolic disorders present in DS individuals, glycemic dysregulation presents involving impaired fasting glucose, diabetes mellitus, dyslipidemia, and metabolic syndrome. DS individuals have higher body mass index (BMI) and body fat percentage (%BF) compared to age- and sex-matched persons without DS (; ; ). Interestingly, sex dimorphism appears in the DS population, being the BMI, %BF, and the proportion that is overweight is higher in females (; ). The prevalence of childhood-onset autoimmune diabetes in the DS population is more than fourfold that of the general population. This increased prevalence of type 1 diabetes (T1D) could arise from the trisomy of genes on chromosome 21 (; ). Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) occurs at an increased frequency at a relatively early age in DS subjects (). Furthermore, DS subjects show an increased rate of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), which is closely associated with insulin resistance (; ).
Among the hormonal regulators of fat accumulation and energy balance, leptin levels in plasma correlate with adiposity in the general population but also in DS children and adolescents (; ). DS fetuses (), adolescents (), and adults () show lower leptin levels as compared to matched controls without DS. However, others have found that DS individuals had higher leptin levels compared to unaffected siblings (; ). Inherent genetic basis for increased leptin resistance could explain the cases of hyperleptinemia not accompanied by hyperinsulinemia in individuals with DS ().
However, an inherent difficulty of human studies when trying to extract conclusions of metabolic features in different cohorts is the existence of confounding factors such a lifestyle and regional nutrition habits and preferences. Animal models provide a suitable alternative to investigate the impact of the HSA21 genes on the metabolic alterations in DS controlling for environmental factors. Recently, we investigated the effect of the trisomy in the metabolic-inflammatory axis and their relation with energy expenditure, energy intake, and fat accumulation in Ts65Dn mice, a partial trisomy DS model (; Figure 1). Ts65Dn mice presented increased fat mass and energy intake, along with increased leptin levels compared to WT (; Figure 1). Even so, Ts65Dn mice consumed more calories, suggesting that leptin would be ineffective in controlling the satiety. As compared to WT, Ts65Dn mice present lower levels of ghrelin in plasma, which in the general population has been associated with obesity (). Ts65Dn mice also show increased glucose-stimulated response of the adipokine resistin and increase of plasma galectin-3 and HSP72 (; Figure 1), which are associated with autoimmunity (; ). Recently, higher levels of C-reactive protein (CRP), C3, and C4 complement factors have been reported in DS adolescents (). Overall, the existing data support the idea of DS as a case of an impaired metabolic-inflammatory axis.
FIGURE 1
There is also a higher prevalence of diabetes in DS individuals compared to the general population (
Supporting this idea, it has been shown that hyperglycemia is presented in Ts65Dn and Dp16 DS mouse models but not in Tc1 and Ts1Rhr mice (
Recently, it has been shown that a single extra copy of RCAN1 in the mouse could also cause insulin resistance and pyruvate intolerance, probably though GSK3β or NIK regulation by increasing hepatic glucose production and expression of gluconeogenic genes (
Pharmacological inhibition of DYRK1A in both mice and human cells leads to proliferation of β-cell (
The existing data suggest that the sole overexpression of DYRK1A does not reproduce peripheral phenotypes associated to obesity, such as fat accumulation and insulin deficiency, in DS humans. However, only Dyrk1A overexpression might be relevant for feeding behavior and energy balance, since transgenic mice exhibit increased food intake (
Other HSA21 encoded proteins, such as ADAMTS1, APP, GABPA, HSPA13, LIPI, NRIP1, and hsa-mir-99a, have also been associated with obesity. Specifically, in Genome Wide Association Studies (GWAS), Kunej and collaborators describe in the general population a genetic association between quantitative traits loci (QTL) for body weight (BW276_H) and these seven loci located in the HSA21 (
Certainly, besides the overexpression of coding and non-coding regions of the HSA21, genes located in other chromosomes whose expression is dysregulated could also take part in the DS phenotypes. This genome-wide transcriptional deregulation could be due to epigenetic modifications. In trisomy 21 discordant twins as well as the Ts65Dn/WT mouse cells, the chromatin modifications produced by nuclear compartments of T21 cells affect the overall (
Finally, besides obesity, DS populations show the endocrine condition of hypothyroidism, mainly as subclinical hypofunction (
Brain Insulin Resistance: a Key Metabolic Alteration in Aging and Neurodegeneration
Brain represents only ∼2% of body weight but has a high metabolic demand compared to other tissues. Among brain cells, neurons require a lot of energy to support signaling (
Recent advances in the comprehension of brain functions highlighted that the actions of insulin are more pronounced in the central nervous system than previously thought. Insulin plays a major role in the regulation of gene expression and cellular metabolism, both events that sustain neuronal activity and synaptic plasticity mechanisms (
Insulin resistance is generally defined as an insufficient response to insulin by target cells (
Thus, insulin resistance is central to our understanding of shared features between AD and metabolic disorders. It was reported that more than hyperglycemia (which is a peculiar condition of diabetes) and associated effects, the insulin resistance phenomenon by itself plays a crucial role during the preclinical stage of AD (
Mechanisms identified to prompt the development of brain insulin resistance (Figure 2) include, among the others: reduced insulin transport across the blood brain barrier (BBB) (
FIGURE 2

Schematic representation of insulin signaling with highlighted in red pathways found to promote brain insulin resistance in AD and DS. Under physiological conditions, the activation of insulin signaling requires the binding of insulin to the insulin receptor (IR), which auto-phosphorylates on Tyr residues (e.g., Tyr1158/1162/1163) and promotes the receptor tyrosine kinase-mediated phosphorylation of its substrate (IRS1) on specific Tyr residues (e.g., 632). In parallel, IR phosphorylates BVR-A on specific Tyr residues and activates BVR-A to function as Ser/Thr/Tyr kinase. Then, as part of a regulatory loop, BVR-A phosphorylates IRS1 on inhibitory Ser residues (Ser307/312/616) to avoid IRS1 aberrant activation in response to IR. Once activated, IRS1 works as a scaffold protein, driving the activation of the two main harms of the insulin signaling: (1) the MAPK pathway (ERK1/2) mainly involved in gene transcription and (2) the PI3K/Akt axis that is critical for linking upstream effectors (IR and IRS1) with downstream proteins mediating insulin neurotrophic outcomes. Activation of the PI3K/Akt axis is regulated by the phosphatase PTEN, which reduces PIP3 levels required for Akt activation as well as for increasing the expression of PKCζ. Akt promotes the phosphorylation of several targets, among which are: (1) GSK3β (on Ser9, inhibitory site), which has a role energy production; (2) mTOR (on Ser2448, activating site), which regulates protein synthesis and autophagy; and (3) AS160 (on Thr642, activating site). This latter, together with PKCζ, is responsible for the translocation of GLUT4-containing vesicles to the plasma membrane to mediate glucose uptake. Furthermore, Akt stimulates the upregulation of HKII, which is a pivotal enzyme involved in glucose metabolism and thus energy production. During the development of brain insulin resistance, a dysregulation of a number of these proteins was observed. In particular, brain insulin resistance phenomenon is characterized by key events such as reduced IR protein levels and/or increased IRS1 inhibitory phosphorylation levels (e.g., Ser307, Ser636), that are responsible for the uncoupling between IR and IRS1. As result, despite insulin binding to IR, IR-mediated activation of IRS1 does not occur. Downstream from IRS1, the aberrant activation of the PI3K/Akt/mTOR axis was observed. This event promotes the uncontrolled activation of mTOR able to phosphorylate IRS1 on inhibitory sites. Moreover, brain insulin resistance was associated with increased Aβ production, which was in turn responsible for IR internalization and thus reduced IR protein available at the plasma membrane to bind insulin. Furthermore, increased inflammatory processes promote a rise of TNFα levels, which favors the activation of stress-induced kinases (i.e., JNK, IKK, PKR) and ER stress, which are all events known to favor IRS1 inhibition. Finally, many of the above described pathways are associated with increased oxidative stress levels, which further contribute to IRS1 inhibition and thus insulin signaling deregulation. Red plain lines/arrows: increased during AD and DS; red dotted lines/arrows: reduced during AD and DS.
From a molecular point of view, the activation of insulin signaling requires the binding of insulin to IR, which auto-phosphorylates and promotes the phosphorylation of the insulin receptor substrate 1 (IRS1) on specific Tyr residues (e.g., 612 and 632). Once activated, IRS1 works as scaffold protein driving the activation of the two main arms of the insulin signaling pathway: (1) the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/3-phosphoinositide-dependent protein kinase 1/protein kinase B (PI3K/PDK1/Akt) and (2) the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathways (
Studies performed in human and mouse models of AD highlighted the role of inflammation and in particular the inflammatory cytokine tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), which leads to the activation of specific kinases [i.e., Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK), I kappa B kinase (IKK), and protein kinase R (PKR)] (
This aspect is quite fascinating because it means that other mechanisms could be responsible for the early alterations of insulin signaling pathway. In particular, our group highlighted the role of BVR-A as regulator of insulin signaling (
Furthermore, several studies report about the overactivation of the PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway that occurs during the early phases of AD (
Notwithstanding metabolic disorders that might accelerate the risk to develop brain insulin resistance, recent studies highlight that brain insulin resistance can occur independently from peripheral alterations both during aging and in AD. Decreased insulin levels and reduced binding of insulin to insulin receptors were reported in the cortex of elderly individuals without dementia (
Furthermore, reduced insulin signaling activation was observed in the brain of AD subjects without T2DM (
Brain Insulin Resistance Is a Feature of Down Syndrome
DS brains share many common neuropathological features with AD, including brain insulin resistance (
Causes for brain insulin resistance development in DS could be various, considering that DS phenotype shows both peripheral and brain alterations that would trigger the impairment of the brain insulin signaling pathway. The peripheral alterations presented above in this review suggest that DS subjects might be potentially more susceptible to developing brain insulin resistance than other children. Indeed, growing evidence highlight the role of metabolic defects as a risk factor for cognitive impairments also in DS (
With regard to brain alterations, accumulation of toxic catabolites (
Interestingly, DS brains present all the alterations described in the previous section that are known to be associated with the development of brain insulin resistance. DS brain is characterized by significant increased Aβ oligomers production and Aβ accumulation (
These lines of evidence strongly suggest that brain insulin resistance can develop also in DS. Indeed, in a recent paper,
FIGURE 3

Shared alterations between young DS and AD brain. Proteins of the insulin signaling pathway found to be dysregulated both in young DS (<40 years) and AD brain. These alterations occur quite early and even before the development of AD pathology in DS brain, thus representing a risk factor for AD development in DS. With regards to GSK3β the loss of Akt-mediated inhibition was observed (
In light of the role of the insulin signaling pathway in regulating synaptic plasticity and cognitive functions, alterations of proteins belonging to the insulin signaling but not APP cleavage products or TNFα levels were significantly associated with reduced synaptic proteins levels, i.e., syntaxin and postsynaptic density 95 (PSD95), in DS with respect to age-matched control (
As reported by our group, intranasal rapamycin (a well-known mTOR inhibitor;
Conclusion
DS subjects represent a unique population that needs to be carefully followed during the entire course of their life. One of the main defects caused by trisomy of HSA21 is metabolic defect. Indeed, DS individuals show a pattern of metabolic defects that contribute to increase the risk of developing chronic diseases such as diabetes or AD-like dementia. This is a crucial aspect considering that metabolic diseases characterized by insulin resistance, such as obesity and diabetes, are associated with a progressive cognitive decline as well as with a risk of developing dementia in the general population. Keeping this in mind, cognitive decline occurs in DS because their genetic background could be further aggravated by the onset of metabolic disorders, which could in turn foster the development of AD in DS patients. Despite knowledge concerning the molecular mechanisms potentially involved in the progression of peripheral and brain metabolic disorders in DS, early alterations are still unknown and require further investigations. Indeed, identifying these alterations during their initial stage could have the advantage of being caught early enough to stop/delay their progression. In this picture, defects of insulin signaling seem to occur early in life at both peripheral and brain levels and persist with aging in DS. Furthermore, at the cellular level, the dysfunction of insulin signaling pathway crosses with dysfunctions of proteins encoded by genes on HSA21 (e.g., Dyrk1A, RCAN, and APP), thus contributing to worsening a pre-existing condition defined on a genetic background. This aspect is fascinating especially in light of the role of insulin signaling pathway in regulating energy metabolism.
While collected results about metabolic defects are uncovering novel aspects associated with DS condition, the field is quite challenging, particularly with regard to brain alterations. The genetic background makes DS a quite complex condition and it is unthinkable that a single treatment could be enough to rescue genetic-driven defects. However, what we can do is to try to improve brain alterations, particularly treating AD in DS or even preventing/delaying AD progression in DS. Indeed, to our knowledge, no therapeutic strategies are available, despite this representing a big issue even in light of the fact that life expectancy is increased in DS. Thus, future research should focus on the identification of altered mechanisms that can be improved through the use of available drugs. Brain insulin resistance could be one of these molecular pathways, and we have examples of successful strategies especially in AD. Intranasal insulin administration has been proved to ameliorate cognitive decline in AD subjects and the effects are even better when insulin is administered in the early stages of the pathology (e.g., MCI) (
In conclusion, drawing the molecular signature underlying alterations of insulin signaling in DS is a key challenge to identifying novel drug targets and set-up new prevention strategies aimed to reduce metabolic disorders as well as their impact on cognitive decline in DS.
Statements
Author contributions
All authors conceived the work, took part to the scientific discussion, and wrote the manuscript.
Funding
This work was supported by Fondi Ateneo grant funded by the Sapienza University n° RM11715C77336E99 to EB and n° C26H15JT9X to MP, Fondation Jérôme Lejeune (2019b – Project #1887) to EB; Fondation Jérôme Lejeune, MINECO (SAF2016-79956-R), H2020 SC1, GO-DS21- 848077, CDTI (“Smartfoods”), Fundació La Marató De TV3 (201620-31_MDierssen), and JPND HEROES (tHE cRossroad Of dEmentia Syndromes to MD). The CRG was a Center of Excellence Severo Ochoa SEV-2016-0571. The CIBER of Rare Diseases is an initiative of the ISCIII. The laboratory of MD was supported by DIUE de la Generalitat de Catalunya (Grups consolidats 2017 SGR 926). We acknowledge the Sisley-d’Ornano and Jérôme Lejeune Foundations, that awarded MF with a postdoctoral fellowship.
Acknowledgments
We also acknowledge the support of the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation to the EMBL partnership, the Centro de Excelencia Severo Ochoa and the CERCA Programme/Generalitat de Catalunya.
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.
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Summary
Keywords
Down syndrome, metabolism, insulin, brain insulin resistance, meatbolic disroders
Citation
Dierssen M, Fructuoso M, Martínez de Lagrán M, Perluigi M and Barone E (2020) Down Syndrome Is a Metabolic Disease: Altered Insulin Signaling Mediates Peripheral and Brain Dysfunctions. Front. Neurosci. 14:670. doi: 10.3389/fnins.2020.00670
Received
02 April 2020
Accepted
02 June 2020
Published
08 July 2020
Volume
14 - 2020
Edited by
Francesca Trojsi, University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli, Italy
Reviewed by
Jie Jack Lu, China Medical University, China; Maria Ida Maiorino, Second University of Naples, Italy
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© 2020 Dierssen, Fructuoso, Martínez de Lagrán, Perluigi and Barone.
This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
*Correspondence: Eugenio Barone, eugenio.barone@uniroma1.it
†Present address: Marta Fructuoso, ICM Institut du Cerveau et de la Moelle épinière, CNRS UMR 7225, INSERM U1127, UPMC, Hôpital de la Pitié-Salpêtrière, Paris, France
This article was submitted to Neurodegeneration, a section of the journal Frontiers in Neuroscience
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