Naslov
Abrupt Telomere Shortening and the stochastic nature of cellular aging

Autori
Ivanković, Milena ; Škrobot Vidaček, Nikolina ; Ćukušić Kalajžić, Andrea ; Rubelj, Ivica

Vrsta, podvrsta i kategorija rada
Sažeci sa skupova, sažetak, znanstveni

Izvornik
Telomeres and Telomerase / De Lange, Titia ; Reddel, Roger ; Shippen, Dorothy ; Zakian, Virginia - Lahti : Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL), 2011, 204-204

Skup
Telomeres and Telomerase

Mjesto i datum
Cold Spring Harbor (NY), Sjedinjene Američke Države, 03.05.2011. - 07.05.2011

Vrsta sudjelovanja
Predavanje

Vrsta recenzije
Međunarodna recenzija

Ključne riječi
Abrupt Telomere Shortening; Stochastic Cellular Aging

Sažetak
We can say that telomeres are among the most popular biological structures today! Their involvement in some of the most important biological phenomena such as aging and cancer is widely recognized. They are the physical ends of all eukaryotic chromosomes, protecting their integrity and consequently maintaining genome stability. They are evolutionarily conserved so that all vertebrates share the same repetitive sequence (TTAGGG)n. Telomeres are dynamic structures, in normal somatic cells they gradually shorten with each cell division which ultimately leads to cell senescence. Experimental evidence suggests that accumulation of senescent cells in tissues contributes to aging and development of age related diseases. Telomere length is a reliable marker for longevity, healthspan, occurrence of cancer and various other diseases in the population. Therefore, there are many reasons to engage in research on telomere biology. We have employed a novel methodology to provide evidence for the generation of extra chromosomal circular telomeric DNA as a result of abrupt telomere shortening in normal human fibroblasts. Also, using original techniques we examined the behavior of individual telomeres. We identified unique subtelomeric regions, which are large enough to produce detectable chemiluminescent signals. This enabled us to follow individual Xp/Yp telomeres by Southern blot analysis and to test the model of abrupt telomere shortening as well as to compare these results with quantitative PNA-FISH analysis. Q-PNA-FISH analysis of individual Y chromosome demonstrated unequal shortening dynamics between its p and q telomeres. We believe that abrupt telomere shortening is of great importance for our understanding of the mechanistic basis of aging because it ensures heterogeneity in growth potential among individual cells, which is crucial for the gradual progression of the aging process at the organismal level.

Izvorni jezik
Engleski

Znanstvena područja
Biologija

POVEZANOST RADA