Down Syndrome and the Morris water maze

Down Syndrome (DS), trisomy 21, is the most common congenital genetic cause of mental degeneration in humans. Although many details of the disorder have been previously described, the molecular mechanisms of the phenotypic features are still elusive. There are currently two hypotheses: gene dosage effect, the cumulative effect of emplace of the genes located on the triplicated chromosome 21 and on the other hand amplified developmental instability, disturbance of chromosome balance and a disruption of homeostasis. Previous studies have shown several impaired cytoskeletal proteins in fetal and adult DS brain. These impairments of the cytoskeletal proteins with their post translational modifications could be a key point of DS pathogenesis¿