Down syndrome fibroblasts are hyperresponsive to beta-adrenergic stimulation.

The hormonal response to human skin fibroblasts after exposure to beta-adrenergic agonists, prostaglandin E1 (PGE1), and cholera toxin was monitored by intracellular cyclic AMP accumulation. Down syndrome (DS; trisomy 21) cells had an approximately 10-fold greater response to beta-adrenergic agonists than did either normal diploid skin fibroblasts or other aneusomic fibroblast strains (trisomy 13, 18, and 22). The altered response in DS fibroblasts was specific for beta-adrenergic agonists, because treatment of DS or control cells with PGE1 or cholera toxin resulted in the same degree of cyclic AMP accumulation. Experiments with 3-isobutyl-1-methylxanthine, a cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterase inhibitor, indicated that the increased response of DS fibroblasts was not primarily a function of altered cyclic AMP degradation. Monosomy 21 cells responded less than normal diploid fibroblasts to stimulation by the beta-adrenergic agonist isoproterenol. These findings suggest that genetic information on chromosome 21 participates in regulating the beta-adrenergic response of human fibroblasts.