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• Telomerase

• "Cellular Aging Is a Reversible Process"

  An interesting abstract published earlier this year: "Ageing is often defined in the context of telomerase activity and telomere length regulation. Most somatic cells have limited replication ability and undergo senescence eventually. Stem cells are unique as they possess more abundant telomerase activity and are able to maintain telomere lengths for a longer period. Embryonic stem cells are particularly resistant to ageing and can be propagated indefinitely. Remarkably, adult somatic cells can be reprogrammed to an ESC-like state by various means including cell fusion, exposure to ESC cell-free extracts, enforced expression of specific molecules, and somatic cell nuclear transfer. Thus, the rejuvenation of an 'aged' state can be effected by the activation of specific key molecules in the cell. Here, we argue that cellular ageing is a reversible process, and this is determined by the balance of biological molecules which directly or indirectly control telomere length and telomerase activity, either through altering gene expression and/or modulating the epigenetic state of the chromatin."
  
  View the Article Under Discussion: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.mad.2006.11.020
  Read More Longevity Meme Commentary: http://www.longevitymeme.org/news/
  Posted Thursday, March 22, 2007 6:45 PM from Longevity Meme News and Commentary / 1 Comments

  Tags: Aging, Telomeres, Telomerase, Cell biology

• Telomeres and Osteoarthritis

  From ScienceDaily, news of a correlation between osteoarthritis and shortened telomeres: "X-rays of both hands were taken of all participants to check for signs of osteoarthritis and a blood sample was taken to assess 'biological aging' in white cell DNA. ... Unsurprisingly, the findings showed that white cell telomere lengths were associated with chronological age. The older a person was, the shorter they were. But among the 160 people with hand osteoarthritis, the telomere length was significantly shorter than among those without the disease ... the amount of telomere shortening was equivalent to that accrued over 11 years in healthy people ... The more severe the disease, the shorter was the telomere length. ... The authors suggest that both the aging process and osteoarthritis share biological factors in common, including oxidative stress and low level chronic inflammation."
  
  View the Article Under Discussion: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/10/061001204429.htm
  Read More Longevity Meme Commentary: http://www.longevitymeme.org/news/
  Posted Monday, October 02, 2006 7:19 AM from Longevity Meme News and Commentary / 0 Comments

  Tags: Aging, Telomeres, Osteoarthritis

• Three share Lasker Prize for telomerase research

  The Albert & Mary Lasker Foundation, in New York City, has announced its 2006 medical research awards, which are often harbingers of Nobel Prizes. The Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research goes to professor of biology and physiology Elizabeth Read More...
  Posted Thursday, September 21, 2006 4:11 PM by newsteam / 0 Comments

  Tags: Aging, Telomeres, Telomerase, Prizes

• Telomeres, Stem Cells, Aging

  A paper in Nature touches on a most intriguing area of study: we know that telomeres tend to shorten and stem cells fail to replicate to repair tissue with increasing age, but what is the cart and what is the horse here? Do other modes of age-related cellular damage contribute to or result from these trends - to what degree and how? The science of aging is replete with questions of this ilk, as well as the strong sense that answers will come in the decade ahead. "[In some scenarios], the degree of telomere shortening can be correlated with disease duration, disease stage and severity as well as with response to disease-modifying treatment strategies. Whether increased telomere shortening represents a causal link between [hematopoietic stem cell (HSC)] turnover, replicative senescence and/or the induction of genetic instability in acquired HSC disorders remains to be shown. However, data from congenital disorders [suggest] that disturbed telomere maintenance may play a role for replicative exhaustion of the HSC pool in vivo."
  
  View the Article Under Discussion: http://www.nature.com/leu/journal/vaop/ncurrent/abs/2404339a.html
  Read More Longevity Meme Commentary: http://www.longevitymeme.org/news/
  Posted Friday, August 18, 2006 5:43 PM from Longevity Meme News and Commentary / 0 Comments

  Tags: Aging, Telomeres, Stem cells

• Stress and Telomeres Again

  Scientists have been exploring links between the biochemistry of stress and more rapidly shortened telomeres for a couple of years now. Here's more from Forbes: "We examined healthy women and found that psychological stress was related to [shortened telomeres]. As a result, the immune system of the stressed-out women is apparently aging at a faster rate. The treatments for this problem are what you might expect. 'Everything we already know about fighting off chronic disease, like getting sufficient sleep, staying active throughout life, and having a healthy diet' may stave off premature aging of the immune system." Shortened telomeres are linked to a number of age-related conditions. Stress is clearly a system-altering phenomenon for the human body, so the hypothesis here is plausible - but correlation is not causation. From where I stand, more delving into the mechanisms is needed to demonstrate that the stress response is acting as a significant source of life-shortening cellular damage.
  
  View the Article Under Discussion: http://www.forbes.com/forbeslife/health/feeds/hscout/2006/08/11/hscout534367.html
  Read More Longevity Meme Commentary: http://www.longevitymeme.org/news/
  Posted Saturday, August 12, 2006 8:18 AM from Longevity Meme News and Commentary / 0 Comments

  Tags: Aging, Telomeres, Stress

• Poor people age faster

  A new study has linked poverty with accelerated aging, suggesting that stress really does take years of people's lives. The study, reported in the journal Aging Cell , found that low social status can accelerate aging by up to seven years. Involving Read More...
  Posted Thursday, July 20, 2006 12:33 PM by Simon / 12 Comments

  Tags: Poverty, Aging, Social status, Longevity, Telomeres