Telomeres and Lifestyle Choices
Kitapta bölümler > Diğer · 2012
Yazarlar: Cigir Biray
Reviews on Selected Topics of Telomere Biology, Diğer, Uluslararası, 2012, ,
DOI: 10.5772/38254
Özet
Telomeres, the specific DNA–protein structures found at both ends of each chromosome, protect genome from nucleolytic degradation, unnecessary recombination, repair, and interchromosomal fusion. Telomeres therefore play a vital role in preserving the information in our genome. As a normal cellular process, a small portion of telomeric DNA is lost with each cell division. Telomeres shorten with age. When telomere length reaches a critical limit, the cell undergoes senescence and/or apoptosis. Shorter telomeres have also been implicated in genomic instability and oncogenesis. People older than 60 with short telomeres have three and eight times increased risk to die from heart and infectious diseases, respectively [Starr et al., 2007.] Rate of telomere shortening is therefore critical to an individual’s health and pace of aging. Telomere length may therefore serve as a biological clock to determine the lifespan of a cell. The telomere length limits a cell proliferative ability in cultured human primary cells. Telomere shortens in the absence of telomerase in non-ALT cells. Certain agents associated with specific lifestyles may expedite telomere shortening by inducing damage to DNA in general or more specifically at telomeres and may therefore affect health and lifespan of an individual.