Paternal age and telomere length in twins: the germ stem cell selection paradigm
نویسندگان
چکیده
Telomere length, a highly heritable trait, is longer in offspring of older fathers. This perplexing feature has been attributed to the longer telomeres in sperm of older men and it might be an 'epigenetic' mechanism through which paternal age plays a role in telomere length regulation in humans. Based on two independent (discovery and replication) twin studies, comprising 889 twin pairs, we show an increase in the resemblance of leukocyte telomere length between dizygotic twins of older fathers, which is not seen in monozygotic twins. This phenomenon might result from a paternal age-dependent germ stem cell selection process, whereby the selected stem cells have longer telomeres, are more homogenous with respect to telomere length, and share resistance to aging.
منابع مشابه
The mitochondrial genome, paternal age and telomere length in humans
Telomere length (TL) in humans is highly heritable and undergoes progressive age-dependent shortening in somatic cells. By contrast, sperm donated by older men display comparatively long telomeres, presumably because in the male germline, telomeres become longer with age. This puzzling phenomenon might explain why TL in the offspring correlates positively with paternal age. The present communic...
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