Adult stem cell changes underlie rare genetic disease associated with accelerated aging

Adult stem cells may provide an explanation for the cause of a Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria Syndrome (HGPS), a rare disease that causes premature aging in children, according to researchers at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health. These findings, the first to indicate a biological basis for the clinical features of HGPS, also known as progeria, may also provide new insights into the biological mechanisms of normal aging. The results were published in the March, 2008, issue of Nature Cell Biology.