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PMID: 29335375 Published · ppublish English Journal Article

Reflections on telomere dynamics and ageing-related diseases in humans.

Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences ·Vol. 373 ·No. 1741 ·2018-00-05

Aviv A, Shay JW

Abstract

Epidemiological studies have principally relied on measurements of telomere length (TL) in leucocytes, which reflects TL in other somatic cells. Leucocyte TL (LTL) displays vast variation across individuals-a phenomenon already observed in newborns. It is highly heritable, longer in females than males and in individuals of African ancestry than European ancestry. LTL is also longer in offspring conceived by older men. The traditional view regards LTL as a passive biomarker of human ageing. However, new evidence suggests that a dynamic interplay between selective evolutionary forces and TL might result in trade-offs for specific health outcomes. From a biological perspective, an active role of TL in ageing-related human diseases could occur because short telomeres increase the risk of a category of diseases related to restricted cell proliferation and tissue degeneration, including cardiovascular disease, whereas long telomeres increase the risk of another category of diseases related to increased proliferative growth, including major cancers. To understand the role of telomere biology in ageing-related diseases, it is essential to expand telomere research to newborns and children and seek further insight into the underlying causes of the variation in TL due to ancestry and geographical location.This article is part of the theme issue 'Understanding diversity in telomere dynamics'.

Keywords
ageing cancer cardiovascular disease evolution genetics telomeres
MeSH Terms
Aging/genetics Animals Cardiovascular Diseases/genetics Child Female Humans Infant, Newborn Longevity Male Mice Neoplasms/genetics Paternal Age Race Factors Sex Factors Telomere/genetics Telomere Homeostasis
Authors & Affiliations
2 authors, click to expand affiliations / ORCID
Aviv Abraham ORCID
The Center of Human Development and Aging, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, New Jersey Medical School, Newark, NJ 07103, USA [email protected].
Shay Jerry W ORCID
Department of Cell Biology, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX 75390, USA. | Center of Excellence in Genomic Medicine Research, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
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Article Info
Journal
Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences
Abbr.
Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci
ISSN
1471-2970
DOI
10.1098/rstb.2016.0436
Email
[email protected]
Published
2018-00-05
Language
English
Region
England
NLM ID
7503623
PMCID
PMC5784057
Subset
IM
External Links
PubMed source DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2016.0436 PMC Full Text View journal details
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