Telomere shortening in human diseases

Telomere shortening in human coronary artery diseases.

BACKGROUND Increased cell turnover in response to injury is considered to be important in the development of atherosclerotic plaques. Telomere shortening has been shown to be associated with cell turnover. We assessed the telomere length of human coronary endothelial cells to clarify whether there is a relationship between telomere shortening and coronary artery disease (CAD). METHODS AND RES...

Telomere shortening & metabolic/vascular diseases.

Telomeres are specialized DNA-protein structures located at the ends of eukaryotic chromosomes whose length is progressively reduced in most somatic cells during ageing. Over the past decade, emerging evidence has shown that the telomeres are essential regulators of cellular life span and chromosome integrity in a dynamic fashion. By inducing genomic instability, replicative senescence and apop...

Rapid telomere shortening in children.

Telomere shortening may reflect the total number of divisions experienced by a somatic cell and is associated with replicative senescence. We found that the average rate of telomere shortening in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) obtained longitudinally from nine different infants during the first 3 years of life (270 bp per year) is more than fourfold higher than in adults and does no...

Telomere Shortening Mechanisms

Accelerated Telomere Shortening in Acromegaly; IGF-I Induces Telomere Shortening and Cellular Senescence

OBJECTIVE Patients with acromegaly exhibit reduced life expectancy and increased prevalence of age-related diseases, such as diabetes, hypertension, and cardiovascular disease. However, the underlying mechanism has not been fully elucidated. Telomere shortening is reportedly associated with reduced life expectancy and increased prevalence of these age-related diseases. METHODS We measured tel...