Klein, Jenny Adele PHD

People with Down syndrome have decreased amounts of white matter, slowing electrical communication in the brain and potentially contributing to the intellectual disability. Decreased responsiveness to Sonic hedgehog signaling and triplication of the keystone gene Olig2 in trisomic cells may perturb the transcriptional network that directs oligodendrocyte development. This dysregulation could result in fewer myelinating oligodendrocytes and underlie the white matter deficit.