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. 2017 Dec 21;19(1):3.
doi: 10.3390/ijms19010003.

Telomere Biology and Thoracic Aortic Aneurysm

Thomas Aschacher  1 , Olivia Salameh  2 , Florian Enzmann  3 , Barbara Messner  4 , Michael Bergmann  5   6
Affiliations

Telomere Biology and Thoracic Aortic Aneurysm

Thomas Aschacher et al. Int J Mol Sci. .

Abstract

Ascending aortic aneurysms are mostly asymptomatic and present a great risk of aortic dissection or perforation. Consequently, ascending aortic aneurysms are a source of lethality with increased age. Biological aging results in progressive attrition of telomeres, which are the repetitive DNA sequences at the end of chromosomes. These telomeres play an important role in protection of genomic DNA from end-to-end fusions. Telomere maintenance and telomere attrition-associated senescence of endothelial and smooth muscle cells have been indicated to be part of the pathogenesis of degenerative vascular diseases. This systematic review provides an overview of telomeres, telomere-associated proteins and telomerase to the formation and progression of aneurysms of the thoracic ascending aorta. A better understanding of telomere regulation in the vascular pathology might provide new therapeutic approaches. Measurements of telomere length and telomerase activity could be potential prognostic biomarkers for increased risk of death in elderly patients suffering from an aortic aneurysm.

Keywords: aging; aortic aneurysm; telomerase; telomere maintenance mechanism; telomeres.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Multiple factors are associated with thoracic aortic aneurysm formation. The influence of telomerase activity on vascular smooth muscle cells (vSMC) and endothelial cells (EC) and the regulatory interaction between both cells is of particular importance.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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