Age-Dependent Demise of GNAS-Mutated Skeletal Stem Cells and "Normalization" of Fibrous Dysplasia of Bone.

The article reports on the results of research which was conducted in an effort to determine the role that somatic mosaicism in fibrous dysplasia of bone within the context of skeletal (mesenchymal) stem cells play. Researchers assessed the frequency of mutated colony forming unit-fibroblasts from lesions and other sites in patients. They found that as lesions age, mutant stem cells survive, self renew and enable formation of a normal structure and that GNAS mutations disrupt cell renewal.