Function of telomere in aging and age related diseases

Abstract

Telomeres consist of specialized non-coding DNA repeat sequences. They are essential for preserving the integrity of the genome during cancer development, senescence. Mammalian telomeres might have 1-50 kb of telomeric DNA, which becomes 40-200 base pairs shorter after per cell cycle, and becomes 5-8 kilobase shorter during senescence. There are many studies on the correlation of telomere length and aging rate. However, as the differences in the methods used in the studies and the scarcity of prospective studies, factors affecting telomere length are not really well understood. Some of the age related diseases may develop due to telomere dysfunction and telomere shortness. The short telomere structure detected in both peripheral blood leukocytes and cells of the disease-related tissue has the feature of being a predictive marker for many age-related diseases. It is expected that with future research, telomere length analysis is expected to enter clinical practice.

Keywords: Age related diseases; Aging; Senescence; Telomere.