Recurrent skin ulcer cross-repair and sensory reconstruction in a WRN gene mutational patient

Abstract: A 37-year-old man complained of a refractory posterior malleolar ulceration on his left ankle. He was diagnosed with Werner syndrome according to the progeroid clinical features and genetic testing. To approach the ulceration, a free flow-through right anterolateral thigh perforator flap with anterolateral thigh cutaneous nerve was harvested. One year later, he was readmitted due to a new ulceration on his right ankle. We harvested the left anterolateral thigh perforator flap with anterolateral thigh cutaneous nerve to reconstruct the defect. After one more year of follow-up, there was no recurrence of ulcers, and the sensation of the flap recovered partially after 6 months. We conclude that free flow-through anterolateral thigh perforator flap is a feasible choice for the repair of foot ulcers in Werner syndrome.

Differential stem cell aging kinetics in Hutchinson-Gilford progeria syndrome and Werner syndrome

Hutchinson-Gilford progeria syndrome (HGPS) and Werner syndrome (WS) are two of the best characterized human progeroid syndromes. HGPS is caused by a point mutation in lamin A (LMNA) gene, resulting in the production of a truncated protein product-progerin. WS is caused by mutations in WRN gene, encoding a loss-of-function RecQ DNA helicase. Here, by gene editing we created isogenic human embryonic stem cells (ESCs) with heterozygous (G608G/+) or homozygous (G608G/G608G) LMNA mutation and biallelic WRN knockout, for modeling HGPS and WS pathogenesis, respectively. While ESCs and endothelial cells (ECs) did not present any features of premature senescence, HGPS- and WS-mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) showed aging-associated phenotypes with different kinetics. WS-MSCs had early-onset mild premature aging phenotypes while HGPS-MSCs exhibited late-onset acute premature aging characterisitcs. Taken together, our study compares and contrasts the distinct pathologies underpinning the two premature aging disorders, and provides reliable stem-cell based models to identify new therapeutic strategies for pathological and physiological aging.

Do you know this syndrome? Werner syndrome

Abstract: Werner syndrome is a rare autosomal recessive disorder, caused by mutations in the WRN gene. Clinical findings include: senile appearance, short stature, grey hair, alopecia, bird-like face, scleroderma-like skin changes, skin ulcers, voice abnormalities, cataracts, osteoporosis, type 2 diabetes mellitus, ischemic heart disease and hypogonadism. The syndrome begins to become apparent in adolescence but it is usually diagnosed in the third or fourth decade of life. Since the patients usually die by the age of 40-50 years related to malignant neoplasms or atherosclerotic complications, they should be closely followed and treated for complications

Herlyn werner wunderlich syndrome with hematocolpos: an unusual case report of full diagnostic approach and treatment

Herlyn-Werner-Wunderlich [HWW] syndrome is an uncommon combined miillerian duct anomalies [MDAs] and mesonephric duct malformation of female urogenital tract characterized by uterus didelphys and obstructed hemi-vagina and ipsilateral renal agenesis [OHVIRA] syndrome

We present a rare and unusual case of this syndrome in a 19 year-old female who suffered from hypomenorrhoea and abdominal pain. She had an obstructed hemi-vagina on right side which led to marked distention of ipsilateral cervix, while proximal hemi-vagina compressed the contralateral side causing its partial obstruction resulting in hypomenorrhoea. Understanding the imaging findings of this rare condition is important for early diagnosis in order to prevent complications which may lead to infertility.

Vitamin C alleviates aging defects in a stem cell model for Werner syndrome

Werner syndrome (WS) is a premature aging disorder that mainly affects tissues derived from mesoderm. We have recently developed a novel human WS model using WRN-deficient human mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). This model recapitulates many phenotypic features of WS. Based on a screen of a number of chemicals, here we found that Vitamin C exerts most efficient rescue for many features in premature aging as shown in WRN-deficient MSCs, including cell growth arrest, increased reactive oxygen species levels, telomere attrition, excessive secretion of inflammatory factors, as well as disorganization of nuclear lamina and heterochromatin. Moreover, Vitamin C restores in vivo viability of MSCs in a mouse model. RNA sequencing analysis indicates that Vitamin C alters the expression of a series of genes involved in chromatin condensation, cell cycle regulation, DNA replication, and DNA damage repair pathways in WRN-deficient MSCs. Our results identify Vitamin C as a rejuvenating factor for WS MSCs, which holds the potential of being applied as a novel type of treatment of WS.

Síndrome de Werner: una forma de envejecimiento prematuro / Werner's syndrome: a class of premature aging

Introducción: El Síndrome de Werner es un raro trastorno genético de envejecimiento prematuro. Caso clínico: Varón de 38 años, con historia de cese precoz del crecimiento y falta de desarrollo puberal. Además de haber sido operado por fracturas recurrentes de extremidades y cataratas bilateral. A los 15 - 20 años su aspecto fisico comienza a cambiar adquiriendo un aspecto senil. A los 23 años es diagnosticado de diabetes mellitus y esquizofrenia. Es evaluado y se le encuentra osteoporosis, desnutrición y depresión, iniciando tratamiento con buena respuesta. Conclusión: Se presenta un caso de Síndrome de Werner con criterios diagnósticos definidos.

Introduction: Werner' s syndrome is a rare genetic disorder of premature aging. Case report: A 38 years old man, with a history of early cessation of growth and lack of pubertal development. Besides being operated by recurrent fractures oflimbs and bilateral cataracts. At 15 to 20 years his physical appearance begins to change acquiring a senile aspect. At 23 he was diagnosed with diabetes mellitus and schizophrenia. It is evaluated and is found osteoporosis, malnutrition and depression, initiating treatment with good response. Conclusion: We report a case of Werner syndrome with defined diagnostic criteria.

Werner syndrome: a case report and review of literature

Werner's syndrome is a rare inherited disorder characterized by short stature, sclerosed skin, cataract and premature aging of the face. The disease involves multiple systems of the body and some of the abnormalities may cause life threatening complications such as myocardial infarction and malignancy. We report a case of this rare disorder

A case of Werner Syndrome Complicated by Bone Metastasis of Rhabdomyosarcoma

Werner syndrome (WRN), or adult progeria, is a very rare, autosomal recessive disorder characterized by the appearance of accelerated aging, including cataracts, gray hair, skin atrophy, and atherosclerosis. This syndrome is caused by mutations in the WRN gene and had a high risk of a spectrum of rare neoplasms including: i) non-epithelial malignant or pre-malignant tumors/conditions, osteosarcomas and soft tissue sarcomas, malignant melanomas, myeloid leukemia and myelodysplastic syndrome; ii) an epithelial neoplasm, thyroid carcinoma, and iii) meningiomas. Recently, authors experienced a case of Werner syndrome complicated by bone metastasis of rhabdomyosarcoma in a 20-year old Korean man. The patient revealed a painful mass on his right knee and progeroid features, short stature, scalp alopecia, abnormal dentition, craniofacial disproportion, hypothyroidsm, cataracts and osteoporosis. The onset of symptoms of Werner syndrome generally precedes any later symptoms of associated conditions, such as malignant tumor. Therefore, early recognition of Werner syndrome is important to assist identification of malignant tumors at an early stage in this patient group.

Novel LMNA Gene Mutation in a Patient With Atypical Werner's Syndrome

Hutchinson-Gilford progeria syndrome (HGPS) and Werner's syndrome are representative types of progeroid syndrome. LMNA (Lamin A/C) gene mutation with atypical Werner's syndrome have recently been reported. Atypical Werner's syndrome with the severe metabolic complications, the extent of the lipodystrophy is associated with A133L mutation in the LMNA gene and these patients present with phenotypically heterogeneous disorders. We experienced a 15-yr-old Korean female with progeroid features, generalized lipodystrophy, hypertriglyceridemia, fatty liver, steatohepatitis, and type 2 diabetes mellitus. Skin fibroblasts from the patient showed marked abnormal nuclear morphology, compared with that from normal persons. Gene analysis revealed that this patient had T506del of exon 2 in the LMNA gene. We report here the first case of atypical Werner's syndrome with frameshift mutation that was caused by T506del.

A case of atypical Werner syndrome without WRN gene mutations / 대한내과학회지

Werner syndrome is a rare autosomal recessive, hereditary disease that demonstrates progeroid features and has characteristic WRN gene mutations. Atypical Werner syndrome refers to a small subset of individuals who produce the normal WRN protein, but show some signs and symptoms that sufficiently overlap with Werner syndrome. Recently, we experienced a case of atypical Werner syndrome. A 43-year-old woman was admitted to our hospital due to being severely underweight. She had an operative history of cataracts in both eyes and had suffered from multiple skin ulcers, deafness, and vision loss. Physical examination revealed short stature, low body weight, flat feet, and a scleroderma-like skin change. Laboratory and clinical tests showed that the patient had diabetes mellitus, osteoporosis, and premature atherosclerotic features. Her clinical presentation and laboratory findings were consistent with Werner syndrome. We performed a WRN, LMNA gene sequence analysis, but no mutations were detected. The patient was diagnosed with atypical Werner syndrome.

Síndrome de Werner associada a quadro esclerodermiforme: relato de caso e revisão da literatura / Werner's syndrome associated with scleroderma-like syndrome: case report and literature revision

A síndrome de Werner é uma doença autossômica recessiva rara associada a envelhecimento precoce, cujo quadro cutâneo deve ser distinguido daquele encontrado na esclerose sistêmica (ES). Descrevemos aqui o caso de uma paciente de 39 anos de idade, portadora de síndrome de Werner, encaminhada ao nosso serviço com hipótese diagnóstica inicial de ES. A paciente apresentava várias manifestações associadas à síndrome de Werner, incluindo cabelos precocemente grisalhos, voz estridente, baixa estatura, alterações cutâneas esclerodermiformes, diabetes melito, catarata, hipogonadismo, hipotireoidismo e hiperlipidemia. Não apresentava fenômeno de Raynaud, manifestações viscerais típicas da ES, alterações capilaroscópicas periungueais ou auto-anticorpos. O diagnóstico de síndrome de Werner, apesar de raro, deve ser lembrado no diagnóstico diferencial de ES, principalmente na presença de manifestações atípicas e na ausência de alterações típicas da ES.

Werner's syndrome is a rare autosomal recessive disease associated with premature ageing. Skin alteration must be distinguished from cutaneous manifestation of systemic sclerosis (SSc). We describe a case of a 39 years old patient with Werner's syndrome admitted with an initial diagnostic hypothesis of SSc. The patient had many characteristic features associated with Werner's syndrome including gray hair, hoarseness, short stature, scleroderma-like skin changes, diabetes mellitus, cataracts, hypogonadism, hypothyroidism, and hyperlipidemia. There was no Raynaud's phenomenon, other typical visceral manifestation of SSc, nailfold capillary alterations or autoantibodies. Werner's syndrome diagnosis notwithstanding rare, should be remember in the differential diagnosis of SSc, mainly in the presence of atypical manifestations and in the absence of typical features of SSc.

El nucléolo como un regulador del envejecimiento celular / The nucleolus as a regulator of cellular senescence

El nucléolo, considerado únicamente como el sitio de síntesis de los ribosomas, actualmente representa una estructura nuclear dinámica que participa en la regulación de importantes procesos celulares. Numerosas evidencias han demostrado que el envejecimiento celular es una de las diversas funciones que son controladas por el nucléolo. Las mutaciones en las proteínas de localización nucleolar promueven el envejecimiento prematuro en levaduras y humanos. La carencia de represión en la transcripción de genes que codifican para el ARNr que se encuentran dañados, y las mutaciones en las helicasas del ADN encargadas de minimizar la formación de círculos extra-cromosómicos del ADN que codifica para el ARNr, provocan modificaciones en la estructura del nucléolo e inducen envejecimiento prematuro en levaduras. De igual manera, en los humanos la carencia de las helicasas del ADN localizadas en el nucléolo y que participan en el mantenimiento de la integridad genómica, favorecen el desarrollo de aquellas enfermedades asociadas con el envejecimiento acelerado. Además, la presencia de algunos componentes de la telomerasa en el nucléolo, indica que parte de la biosíntesis de esta enzima se realiza en esta estructura nuclear, sugiriendo una conexión entre el nucléolo y la síntesis de los telómeros en la regulación del envejecimiento celular. Por otra parte, el nucléolo secuestra proteínas para regular su actividad biológica durante el inicio o término de la vida replicativa celular.

The nucleolus has been considered originally only as the site for the ribosome synthesis, but now it is well known that it represents a dynamic nuclear structure involved in important cellular processes. Several evidences have demonstrated that the nucleolus regulates the cellular senescence. Specific mutations on the DNAs codifying for nucleolar proteins induced premature senescence from yeast to human. The failure to repress the genes transcription codifying for damaged rRNA, and the mutations in DNA helicases, which minimizes the formation of DNA extra-chromosomal circles codifying for rRNA, modify the nucleolar structure and induce premature senescence in yeast. Similarly, in humans, the reduction of these DNA helicases levels, which are localized in the nucleoli and participate in maintenance of genomic integrity, helps to the development of those diseases associated with premature senescence. Furthermore, the presence in the nucleolus of some telomerase components, indicates that part of the biosynthesis of this enzyme occurred in this nuclear structure; suggesting a communication between the nucleolus and the synthesis of the telomeres in the regulation of cell senescence. On the other hand, the nucleolus sequesters proteins to regulate its own biological activity, from the start to the end of cellular replication. In addition this nuclear structure is involved in the biosynthesis of most cellular ribonucleoprotein particles, as well as in cell cycle regulation, making it central to gene expression. In conclusion, the nucleolus became a multifunctional subnuclear structure involved from cell proliferation to cell senescence.

Osteosarcoma: Biologic Markers in Its Treatment

Osteosarcoma is a primary malignant bone tumor that accounts for 5% of childhood cancers. Despite the use of chemotherapy, long-term survival has reached a plateau, and this figure has not changed for almost 20 years. Therefore, there is a need for understanding of the basic biology and pathogenesis of osteosarcoma in order to develop more therapeutic strategies and ultimately improve survival. This article reviews current state of knowledge about several aspects of osteosarcoma biology with regard to host genetic predispositions, cytogenetics and molecular markers. Genetic conditions with a predisposition to osteosarcoma include hereditary retinoblastoma, Li-Fraumeni syndrome, Rothmund-Thomson syndrome and Werner syndrome. Although most of osteosarcomas are sporadic, these syndromes may provide important clues to the pathogenesis of sporadic osteosarcomas. A multitude of cytogenetic abnormalities have been detected, but no specific abnormalities that can serve as markers of osteosarcoma have been found. Areas of molecular aberrations include tumor suppressor pathway (RB and p53), oncogenes (Her-2), telomere maintenance, angiogenesis (VEGF), chemokines (CXCR4), cytoskeletons (Ezrin), matrix metalloproteinases and adhesion molecules (CD44). Understanding the contributions of the different cytogenetic and molecular aberrations will aid in discovering predictors of outcome and in devising therapies for osteosarcoma.

[Progeroid syndrome and mutation in LMNA gene: report of two cases from Iran]

Two Iranian cases with very rare progeroid syndrome are reported. The first is a 24-year-old girl who has been healthy till her 13[th] birthday. From that time she has been suffering from a progressive generalized and multi-systemic illness. The cardinal clinical findings were growth retardation, subcutaneous fat loss, skin dryness and wrinkling, scattered focal sclerodermoid-like changes, prominence of superficial vessels, gradual loss of scalp hair and eyebrows and cardiac involvement in the form of dilated cardiomyopathy. All the above findings were suggestive of precocious ageing and the clinical diagnosis of Werner syndrome. The second case is a 6-year-old boy with typical clinical findings of Progeria or Hutchinson-Gilford syndrome. The diagnoses were confirmed by molecular analysis of the samples in Washington and Marseille. In the first case there was no molecular abnormality in Werner's gene[WRN], but there was a mutation in the LMNA gene. The mutation was substitution of C to G in codon number 57, and the codon GCA [alanine] changed to CCA [proline]. So, in the codon 57 of the protein Lamin A/C proline had replaced alanine [A57>P]. The mutation in the second case [Progeria=Hutchinson-Gilford syn.] was a point mutation at the exon 11 of Lamin A/C protein resulting in the replacement of thymine by cytosine in the nucleotide number 1824[1824C>T]. The importance of lamins and the mechanism and pathogenesis of progeroid syndromes are discussed briefly

Progeria / Progeria

La progeria o síndrome de Hutchinson-Gilford es un síndrome poco frecuente. Consiste en la aparición de signos de envejecimiento en niños entre su primer y segundo año de vida. La mayoría de los casos de progeria son esporádicos, lo cual plantea la posibilidad de un patrón de herencia autosómico dominante por mutación de novo. El diagnóstico diferencial de esta entidad debe plantearse con cualquiera de los otros síndromes progeroides descritos en la literatura. Se presenta una revisión actualizada sobre el tema haciendo énfasis en la aproximación diagnóstica del cuadro

Síndrome de Werner: aspectos clínicos e endocrinológicos / Werner's syndrome: clinical and endocrinologycal aspects

A síndrome de Werner é uma doença autossômica recessiva rara na qual os indivíduos afetados apresentam sintomas de envelhecimento precoce associado a diferentes graus de intolerância a glicose e a hipogonadismo. Recentemente, tivemos a oportunidade de estudar um paciente de 34 anos, masculino, portador de síndrome de Werner, cujo quadro clínico era composto de várias alteraçöes características, diabetes mellitus e hipogonadismo clínico. diabetes mellitus se apresentou como um estado de resistência insulínica, caracterizada através da avaliaçäo das glicemias durante o jejum e em períodos inter e pós prandiais, com e sem infusäo insulínica. Durante 6 dias consecutivos o paciente foi submetido a insulinizaçäo endovenosa em concentraçöes crescentes (das 8:00 às 18:00h, diariamente) em vigência de dieta, chegando a receber uma dose de 192U/hora. A média dos níveis glicêmicos nestes 6 dias foi de 328 ñ 85 mg/dl (x ñ DP). Por outro lado, quando em jejum de 10 horas, observamos uma queda espontânea dos níveis glicêmicos, com média de 259 ñ 55 mg/dl (p = 0,02). Uma tendência à melhora dos níveis glicêmicos durante o jejum tornou-se mais evidente ao se associar a insulina (em dose crescente até atingir 16 U/hora, num período de infusäo de 5 horas), com média de 177 ñ 102 mg/dl (p = 0,07). A ligaçäo da insulina ao seu receptor em eritrócitos humanos também foi avaliada. No paciente com síndrome de Werner, a fraçäo de insulina especificamente ligada a eritrócitos (insulina ligada/insulina total) foi de 11,4 por cento numa concentraçäo traçadora de insulina (800) pg/ml), semelhante ao valor encontrado em sete voluntários normais (10,2 ñ 2,4 por cento). O estudo do hipogonadismo evidenciou no estado basal testosterona de 141 ng/dl (VN: 350-1000 ng/dl) e teste de estímulo com LHRH para LH (mUI/ml) e FSH (mUI/ml), respectivamente: basal = 3,3 e 20,1/30 min = 19,8 e 26,1/60 min = 21,0 e 30,1/90 min = 18,5 e 29,5. Em resumo, descrevemos o caso de um paciente com síndrome de Werner no qual pudemos comprovar uma resistência à insulina predominantemente nos estados pós-prandiais (talves relacionada à escassez de tecido muscular e adiposo e/ou alteraçöes a nível de pós receptor) e a presença de hipogonadismo central. Uma melhor compreensäo da síndrome de Werner pode ajudar a elucidar os mecanismos do envelhecimento fisiológico