Telomeres and lifespan

Telomeres and the natural lifespan limit in humans

An ongoing debate in demography has focused on whether the human lifespan has a maximal natural limit. Taking a mechanistic perspective, and knowing that short telomeres are associated with diminished longevity, we examined whether telomere length dynamics during adult life could set a maximal natural lifespan limit. We define leukocyte telomere length of 5 kb as the 'telomeric brink', which de...

Telomeres

What are they? Telomeres are the natural tips of chromosomes. They consist of tandem arrays of simple G-rich repetitive DNA sequences that are complexed with proteins. The fundamental tools for keeping telomeres healthy are amazingly similar in both single cell eukaryotes, such as yeast and ciliated protozoa, and human cells. What do they do? Telomeres have two important duties. First, they are...

Telomeres and telomerase.

Telomeres are the protective DNA-protein complexes found at the ends of eukaryotic chromosomes. Telomeric DNA consists of tandem repeats of a simple, often G-rich, sequence specified by the action of telomerase, and complete replication of telomeric DNA requires telomerase. Telomerase is a specialized cellular ribonucleoprotein reverse transcriptase. By copying a short template sequence within ...

Telomeres and mitochondrial function.

A new study provides insight into aging and agerelated diseases by linking telomere dysfunction to a decline in mitochondrial number and function. Common observation, bolstered by a wealth of epidemiologic evidence, demonstrates that aging is accompanied by a profound increase in the incidence of cardiovascular disease. Understanding the mechanisms that underlie the aging process might, therefo...

SnapShot: Telomeres and Telomerase