Consequences of aneuploidy in human fibroblasts with trisomy 21

An extra copy of chromosome 21 causes Down syndrome, the most common genetic disease in humans. The mechanisms by which the aneuploid status of the cell, independent of the identity of the triplicated genes, contributes to the pathologies associated with this syndrome are not well defined. To characterize aneuploidy driven phenotypes in trisomy 21 cells, we performed global transcriptome, proteome, and phenotypic analysis of primary human fibroblasts from individuals with Patau (trisomy 13), Edwards (trisomy 18), or Down syndromes. On average, mRNA and protein levels show a 1.5 fold increase in all trisomies with a subset of proteins enriched for subunits of macromolecular complexes showing signs of post-transcriptional regulation. Furthermore, we show several aneuploidy-associated phenotypes are present in trisomy 21 cells, including lower viability and an increased dependency on the serine-driven lipid biosynthesis pathway to proliferate. Our studies present a novel paradigm to study how aneuploidy contributes to Down syndrome.