{"id":2159,"date":"2026-03-23T15:25:09","date_gmt":"2026-03-23T15:25:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/jmg\/?p=2159"},"modified":"2026-03-23T15:25:09","modified_gmt":"2026-03-23T15:25:09","slug":"cdk4-and-cdk6-variants-in-patients-with-primary-microcephaly-lead-to-cell-cycle-defects-and-mitochondria-induced-apoptosis-contributed-by-professor-mustafa-tekin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/jmg\/2026\/03\/23\/cdk4-and-cdk6-variants-in-patients-with-primary-microcephaly-lead-to-cell-cycle-defects-and-mitochondria-induced-apoptosis-contributed-by-professor-mustafa-tekin\/","title":{"rendered":"CDK4 and CDK6 variants in patients with primary microcephaly lead to cell cycle defects and mitochondria-induced apoptosis (Contributed by Professor Mustafa Tekin)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>This study explores why some children are born with very small head size (microcephaly) due to rare changes in the CDK4 or CDK6 genes. These genes normally help cells divide and grow. We found that when they do not work properly, cells struggle to multiply and instead become stressed. Rather than simply slowing down, the cells activate their energy-producing structures in an unusual way, leading to damage and cell death. This helps explain how reduced cell growth during early brain development can lead to smaller brain size. Our findings connect growth control and cellular energy balance, offering new insight into how brain development can be disrupted. (<a href=\"https:\/\/jmg.bmj.com\/content\/early\/2026\/03\/19\/jmg-2025-111242\">https:\/\/jmg.bmj.com\/content\/early\/2026\/03\/19\/jmg-2025-111242<\/a>)<!--TrendMD v2.4.8--><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This study explores why some children are born with very small head size (microcephaly) due to rare changes in the CDK4 or CDK6 genes. These genes normally help cells divide and grow. We found that when they do not work properly, cells struggle to multiply and instead become stressed. Rather than simply slowing down, the [&#8230;]<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"btn btn-secondary understrap-read-more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/jmg\/2026\/03\/23\/cdk4-and-cdk6-variants-in-patients-with-primary-microcephaly-lead-to-cell-cycle-defects-and-mitochondria-induced-apoptosis-contributed-by-professor-mustafa-tekin\/\">Read More&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":123,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2159","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>CDK4 and CDK6 variants in patients with primary microcephaly lead to cell cycle defects and mitochondria-induced apoptosis (Contributed by Professor Mustafa Tekin) - JMG Contact blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/jmg\/2026\/03\/23\/cdk4-and-cdk6-variants-in-patients-with-primary-microcephaly-lead-to-cell-cycle-defects-and-mitochondria-induced-apoptosis-contributed-by-professor-mustafa-tekin\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"CDK4 and CDK6 variants in patients with primary microcephaly lead to cell cycle defects and mitochondria-induced apoptosis (Contributed by Professor Mustafa Tekin) - JMG Contact blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This study explores why some children are born with very small head size (microcephaly) due to rare changes in the CDK4 or CDK6 genes. These genes normally help cells divide and grow. We found that when they do not work properly, cells struggle to multiply and instead become stressed. Rather than simply slowing down, the [...]Read More...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/jmg\/2026\/03\/23\/cdk4-and-cdk6-variants-in-patients-with-primary-microcephaly-lead-to-cell-cycle-defects-and-mitochondria-induced-apoptosis-contributed-by-professor-mustafa-tekin\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"JMG Contact blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-03-23T15:25:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"hqqu\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@HuiQiQu\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"hqqu\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/jmg\\\/2026\\\/03\\\/23\\\/cdk4-and-cdk6-variants-in-patients-with-primary-microcephaly-lead-to-cell-cycle-defects-and-mitochondria-induced-apoptosis-contributed-by-professor-mustafa-tekin\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/jmg\\\/2026\\\/03\\\/23\\\/cdk4-and-cdk6-variants-in-patients-with-primary-microcephaly-lead-to-cell-cycle-defects-and-mitochondria-induced-apoptosis-contributed-by-professor-mustafa-tekin\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"hqqu\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/jmg\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/be0250f8d5b52412c3e7c222dabd591b\"},\"headline\":\"CDK4 and CDK6 variants in patients with primary microcephaly lead to cell cycle defects and mitochondria-induced apoptosis (Contributed by Professor Mustafa Tekin)\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-03-23T15:25:09+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/jmg\\\/2026\\\/03\\\/23\\\/cdk4-and-cdk6-variants-in-patients-with-primary-microcephaly-lead-to-cell-cycle-defects-and-mitochondria-induced-apoptosis-contributed-by-professor-mustafa-tekin\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":136,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/jmg\\\/#organization\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/jmg\\\/2026\\\/03\\\/23\\\/cdk4-and-cdk6-variants-in-patients-with-primary-microcephaly-lead-to-cell-cycle-defects-and-mitochondria-induced-apoptosis-contributed-by-professor-mustafa-tekin\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/jmg\\\/2026\\\/03\\\/23\\\/cdk4-and-cdk6-variants-in-patients-with-primary-microcephaly-lead-to-cell-cycle-defects-and-mitochondria-induced-apoptosis-contributed-by-professor-mustafa-tekin\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/jmg\\\/2026\\\/03\\\/23\\\/cdk4-and-cdk6-variants-in-patients-with-primary-microcephaly-lead-to-cell-cycle-defects-and-mitochondria-induced-apoptosis-contributed-by-professor-mustafa-tekin\\\/\",\"name\":\"CDK4 and CDK6 variants in patients with primary microcephaly lead to cell cycle defects and mitochondria-induced apoptosis (Contributed by Professor Mustafa Tekin) - 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