Towards Understanding the Role of Trisomy 21 in Down Syndrome Leukaemia

Abstract

Acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) is the most common paediatric cancer (25% of all cases). Children with Down syndrome (constitutive trisomy 21) are predisposed to ALL with inferior prognosis compared to other children. I established novel models of DS-ALL to dissect the role of trisomy 21 and identify new potent inhibitors of the chromosome 21 kinase DYRK1A. Altogether, this project provides new preclinical tools to improve the outcomes of children with Down syndrome that develop leukaemia.