Elucidating the bone developmental defect in Werner Syndrome using stem cells

Werner Syndrome (WS) is an autosomal recessive genetic disorder characterized by premature aging. This disease is caused by mutations in the WRN gene. The first sign of WS is short stature. Individuals with WS have an abnormally slow growth rate, and growth stops at puberty. As a result, affected individuals have short stature. However, the mechanism is still not clear. To find out the cause of short stature in WS, the author reprogrammed the WS patients’ fibroblasts and the isogenic normal control into mesenchymal stem cells and compared the transcriptome by RNA-Seq.