title: Does higher NORs expression affect the developmental stages of Down syndrome infants?
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The nucleolar organizer regions (NORs) are localized at the secondary constriction of the five pairs of acrocentric chromosomes (13, 14, 15, 21 and 22) in human.
  
  
  METHODS
  To evaluate whether increasing AgNOR protein synthesis effects or not the development of babies/children, 25 Down syndrome patients were included in this study. Firstly, the Ankara Development Screening Inventory (AGTE) test was performed. Then the buccal epithelial cells of patients were taken via a sterile toothpick on clean glass slides and spreaded and AgNOR staining technique was applied to the slides of each individual. Mean NOR area/Total nucleus area (NORa/TNa) were evaluated for each nucleus using a special computer program.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean NORa/TNa was found to be 3.8+/-1.16. According to these data, a significant correlation was not evident between the NORa/TNa and developmental stages (p>0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There is no correlation between extra energy spending for NOR protein synthesis and developmental deficiency.
authors.affiliation: Duzce University Medical Faculty, Department of Medical Genetics, Duzce, Turkey.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Eroz
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Okur
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ozkan
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Berik
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Gunes
mesh_terms: D034961:Antigens, Nuclear / Q000235:genetics*; D002657:Child Development; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004314:Down Syndrome / Q000235:genetics*; D005260:Female; D015870:Gene Expression / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D009697:Nucleolus Organizer Region / Q000648:ultrastructure*
chemical_list: D034961:Antigens, Nuclear; C051963:nucleolar organizer region associated proteins