Telomere Science Library

Publications, Presentations, and Videos
about the Nobel-Prize Winning Science of Telomere Biology

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Maternal obesity predisposes offspring to adulthood morbidities, including type 2 diabetes. Type 2 diabetes and insulin resistance have been associated with shortened telomere length. First, we aimed to investigate whether or not maternal obesity influences insulin sensitivity and its relationship with leucocyte telomere length (LTL) in elderly women. Second, we tested whether or not resistance exercise training improves insulin sensitivity in elderly frail women....
Published 03/22/2016    Read More...
Telomeres are tandem repeat DNA sequences located at distal ends of chromosomes that protect against genomic DNA degradation and chromosomal instability. Excessive telomere shortening leads to cellular senescence and for this reason telomere length is a marker of biological age. Abnormally short telomeres may culminate in the manifestation of a number of cardio-metabolic diseases. Age-related cardio-metabolic diseases attributable to an inactive lifestyle, such as obesity, type 2 diabetes...
Published 02/25/2016    Read More...
Studies indicate that exercise might delay human biological aging, but the effects of long-term exercise on T cell function are not well known. We tested the hypothesis that moderate or intense exercise lifestyle may attenuate the effects of aging on the telomere length and the survival and composition of T cell subpopulations. Elderly (65-85 years) with intense training lifestyle (IT, n = 15), moderate training lifestyle (MT, n = 16), and who never trained (NT, n = 15) were...
Published 02/10/2016    Read More...
Human genetic disorders and transgenic mouse models have shown that mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) mutations and telomere dysfunction instigate the aging process. Epidemiologically, exercise is associated with greater life expectancy and reduced risk of chronic diseases. While the beneficial effects of exercise are well established, the molecular mechanisms instigating these observations remain unclear....
Published 01/31/2016    Read More...
Previous research demonstrates that physical activity participation is associated with longer leukocyte telomere length, with shorter leukocyte telomere length being a hallmark characteristic of cellular aging. What remains under-investigated, however, is whether there is a mode-specific association of physical activity on leukocyte telomere length, which was this study's purpose....
Published 01/12/2016    Read More...
Irisin produced by muscles during exercise and promoting fat burning also exhibits geroprotective effect and induces telomere elongation in normal somatic cells. Special attention is paid to studies of the role of peptides Lys-Glu, Glu-Asp-Arg, and Ala-Glu-Asp-Gly in epigenetic regulation of irisin content. The data suggest that the immunomodulatory peptide Lys-Glu and neuroprotective peptide Glu-Asp-Arg modulate the life span by modulating irisin gene expression....
Published 01/08/2016    Read More...
Telomeres were originally believed to be passive players in cellular replication, but recent research has highlighted their more active role in epigenetic patterning and promotion of cellular growth and survival. Furthermore, literature demonstrates that telomere length (TL) is responsive to environmental manipulations such as prenatal stress and dietary programming. As the search for a prognostic biomarker of concussion has had limited success, this study sought to examine whether or not...
Published 12/17/2015    Read More...
Physical activity and sports have repeatedly been reported to be associated with telomere length. We studied the association of different types of sports across different stages of life on relative leukocyte telomere length (rLTL) in advanced age.815 participants (397 men) from the Berlin Aging Study II aged over 61 years were included in the analysis. rLTL was measured by real time PCR and physical activity was determined retrospectively by questionnaire, assessing type and duration of sports...
Published 12/02/2015    Read More...
Leukocyte telomeres shorten with age, and excessive shortening is associated with age-related cardiometabolic diseases. Exercise training may prevent disease through telomere length maintenance although the optimal amount of exercise that attenuates telomere attrition is unknown. Furthermore, the underlying molecular mechanisms responsible for the enhanced telomere maintenance observed in endurance athletes is poorly understood. We quantified the leukocyte telomere length and analyzed the...
Published 11/19/2015    Read More...
Telomere uncapping increases with advancing age in human arteries and this telomere uncapping is associated with increased markers of senescence, independent of mean telomere length. However, whether there are sex specific differences in arterial telomere uncapping is unknown. We found that telomere uncapping (serine 139 phosphorylated histone γ-H2A.X in telomeres) in arteries was ~2.5 fold greater in post-menopausal women (n=17, 63±2years) compared with pre-menopausal women (n=11, 30±2years,...
Published 11/19/2015    Read More...
Physical activity is known to relieve the metabolic complications of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), and exercise is also associated with telomere biology. We investigated the changes induced by progressive resistance training (PRT) in telomere content and metabolic disorder in women with PCOS and controls....
Published 11/18/2015    Read More...
Short leukocyte telomere length (LTL) has become a hallmark characteristic of aging. Some, but not all, evidence suggests that physical activity (PA) may play an important role in attenuating age-related diseases and may provide a protective effect for telomeres. The purpose of this study was to examine the association between PA and LTL in a national sample of US adults from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey....
Published 10/17/2015    Read More...
Reduced telomere length is a measure of biological aging that is predictive of cardiac events in adults, and has been mechanistically implicated in the onset and progression of atherosclerosis. We sought to describe the early life factors associated with leukocyte telomere length in early childhood, and to determine whether telomere length measured during early childhood is associated with arterial wall thickening later in childhood....
Published 09/24/2015    Read More...
Leukocyte telomere length (LTL) shortening is characteristic of aging and is associated with morbidity and mortality, independent of age. Research demonstrates that lower extremity muscular strength is associated with mobility, morbidity and mortality; however, no study, to our knowledge, had examined the association between lower extremity muscular strength and LTL, which was the purpose of this brief study....
Published 08/27/2015    Read More...
With advancing age the left ventricle (LV) undergoes structural and functional changes, thereby creating the substrate for the development of diseases. One possible mechanism of the ageing heart is a cellular senescence. Leukocyte telomere length (LTL) is a marker of replicative ageing. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the structure and function of the LV in people of different ages free of cardiovascular diseases (CVD) and regular drug medication and to assess their relationship with...
Published 08/14/2015    Read More...
Dale E. Rae1, 7 , Alban Vignaud2, 3, Gillian S. Butler-Browne2, 3, Lars-Eric Thornell4, Colin Sinclair-Smith5, E. Wayne Derman1, Mike I. Lambert1 and Malcolm Collins6, 1 (1) UCT/MRC Research Unit for Exercise Science and Sports Medicine, Department of Human Biology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa (2) Institut de Myologie, UPMC Univ Paris 06, UMR-S 974, 75013 Paris,...
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By Gretchen Reynolds, New York Times Health Blog The sedentary older subjects had telomeres that were on average 40 percent shorter than in the sedentary young subjects, suggesting that the older subjects’ cells were, like them, aging. The runners, on the other hand, had remarkably youthful telomeres, a...
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Scand J Med Sci Sports. Kadi F, Ponsot E. School of Health and Medical Sciences, Division of Sport Sciences, Orebro University, Orebro, Sweden. The decline in the neuromuscular function affects the physical performance and is a threat for independent living in later life. The age-related decrease in muscle satellite cells...
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Richard J. Simpson, Keith Guy Laboratory of Integrated Physiology, Department of Health and Human Performance, University of Houston, Houston, Tex., USA Gerontology (DOI: 10.1159/000270905) The elderly population is at an unprecedented risk of infectious diseases and malignancy due to apparently inevitable age-related declines in immunity. The 'immune risk profile' (IRP)...
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Lynn F. Cherkas, PhD; Janice L. Hunkin, BSc; Bernet S. Kato, PhD; J. Brent Richards, MD; Jeffrey P. Gardner, PhD; Gabriela L. Surdulescu, MSc; Masayuki Kimura, MD, PhD; Xiaobin Lu, MD; Tim D. Spector, MD, FRCP; Abraham Aviv, MD; Arch Intern Med. 2008;168(2):154-158 Background: Physical inactivity is an...
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Ramin Farzaneh-Far1,2*, Jue Lin3, Elissa Epel4, Kyle Lapham3, Elizabeth Blackburn3, Mary A. Whooley2,5,6 1 Division of Cardiology, San Francisco General Hospital, San Francisco, California, United States of America, 2 Department of Medicine, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, California, United States of America, 3 Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University...
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Mech Ageing Dev. 2010 Feb;131(2):165-167. Epub 2010 Jan 12. Larocca TJ, Seals DR, Pierce GL. Department of Integrative Physiology, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309, USA. Telomere length (TL), a measure of replicative senescence, decreases with aging, but the factors involved are incompletely understood. To determine if age-associated reductions in...
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Schizophrenia spectrum disorders are characterized by symptom profiles consisting of positive and negative symptoms, cognitive impairment, and a plethora of genetic, epigenetic, and phenotypic biomarkers. Assorted animal models of these disorders and clinical neurodevelopmental indicators have implicated neurodegeneration as an element in the underlying pathophysiology. Physical exercise or activity regimes--whether aerobic, resistance, or endurance--ameliorate regional brain and functional...
Published 07/15/2015    Read More...
Short leukocyte telomere length (LTL) has become a hallmark characteristic of aging and is associated with higher morbidity and mortality. Physical activity (PA) has been implicated in attenuating age-induced diseases by, for example, preserving LTL. Results from studies of the relationship between PA and LTL have been mixed, which might be because PA was assessed over a short period of time. There have been few studies in which investigators have examined the association between LTL and...
Published 07/07/2015    Read More...
This article summarizes research prior to 2010 and more recent research on religion, spirituality, and health, including some of the latest work being done by research teams at Columbia University, Harvard University, Duke University, and other academic medical centers. First, terms such as religion, humanism, and spirituality are defined. Second, based on his research team's previous systematic review of quantitative studies published in the peer-reviewed literature prior to 2010, the author...
Published 05/31/2015    Read More...
Telomere shortening is considered a cellular marker of health status and biological ageing. Exercise may influence the health and lifespan of an individual by affecting telomere length (TL). However, it is unclear whether different endurance exercise levels may have beneficial or detrimental effects on biological aging. The aims of the study were to assess both chronic and acute effects of endurance training on TL after an exceptional and extreme trail race. TL was assessed in 20 endurance...
Published 05/22/2015    Read More...
A career as an elite-class male athlete seems to improve metabolic heath in later life and is also associated with longer life expectancy. Telomere length is a biomarker of biological cellular ageing and could thus predict morbidity and mortality. The main aim of this study was to assess the association between vigorous elite-class physical activity during young adulthood on later life leukocyte telomere length (LTL). The study participants consist of former male Finnish elite athletes (n = 392)...
Published 05/08/2015    Read More...
The aim of this systematic review is to assess the effects of exercise on telomeres length. We searched the following databases: MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL, The Cochrane Library), Scopus, LILACS, SPORTDiscus and Web of Science from inception to August 2014. All articles that assessed the effects of exercise in telomere length were included in this review. The search strategy used the following combinations of terms: telomere AND "motor activity" OR...
Published 05/05/2015    Read More...
The field of sedentary behavior epidemiology is emerging. Short leukocyte telomere length (LTL) is a hallmark characteristic of aging, but LTL is also associated with morbidity and mortality independent of age. To my knowledge, only one study has examined the association between sedentary behavior and LTL. The purpose of this study was to examine the association between screen-based sedentary behavior and LTL. Data from the 1999-2002 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey were used...
Published 05/02/2015    Read More...
Hypothalamic releasing and inhibiting hormones are major neuroendocrine regulators of human body metabolism being driven directly to the anterior pituitary gland via hypothalamic-hypophyseal portal veins. The alternative physiological or therapeutic interventions utilizing the pharmaco-nutritional boost of imidazole-containing dipeptides (non-hydrolized oral form of carnosine, carcinine, N-acetylcarnosine lubricant eye drops) can maintain health, enhance physical exercise performance and prevent...
Published 03/10/2015    Read More...
It has been documented that telomere-associated cellular senescence may contribute to certain age-related disorders, and telomere length (TL) may be an informative biomarker of healthy aging. Hormone-brain-aging behavior-modulated telomere dynamics and changes in telomerase activity are consistent elements of cellular alterations associated with changes in proliferative state, and these processes are consequently considered as the new therapeutic drug targets for physiological control with...
Published 03/06/2015    Read More...
Regular exercise has multi-system anti-aging effects. Here we summarize how exercise impacts the major hallmarks of aging. We propose that, besides searching for novel pharmaceutical targets of the aging process, more research efforts should be devoted to gaining insights into the molecular mediators of the benefits of exercise and to implement effective exercise interventions for elderly people....
Published 02/21/2015    Read More...
Authors: Lorna L. Stewart Published: 10/16/2014, Nature PubMed Full Text...
Published 10/16/2014    Read More...
Mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) or concussion affects a large portion of the population and although many of these individuals recover completely, a small subset of people experience lingering symptomology and poor outcomes. Little is known about the factors that affect individual susceptibility or resilience to poor outcomes after mTBI and there are currently no biomarkers to delineate mTBI diagnosis or prognosis. Based upon the growing literature associated with caloric intake and altered...
Published 09/28/2014    Read More...
Telomere length (TL) attrition is associated with chronic diseases characterized by chronic inflammatory states. Inflammatory cytokines may play a role in sarcopenia. This study examines the association between TL and the diagnosis of sarcopenia based on appendicular skeletal mass index (ASMI), grip strength, walking speed, and chair stand in a prospective study over 5 years of 976 men and 1,030 women aged 65 years and over living in the community. TL in leukocytes was measured using the...
Published 09/03/2014    Read More...
Telomere length has been associated with a healthy lifestyle and longevity. However, the effect of increased physical activity on telomere length is still unknown. Therefore, the aim was to study the relationship between changes in physical activity level and sedentary behaviour and changes in telomere length....
Published 09/03/2014    Read More...
Abused women, who suffer from chronic psychological stress, have been shown to have shorter telomeres than never abused women. Telomere shortening is associated with increased risk of cell death, and it is believed that adopting health-promoting behaviors can help to increase the activity of telomerase, an enzyme that counters telomere shortening. Qigong is an ancient Chinese mind-body integration, health-oriented practice designed to enhance the function of qi, an energy that sustains...
Published 08/15/2014    Read More...
Telomere length, a reliable predictor of disease pathogenesis, can be affected by genetics, chronic stress and health behaviors. Cross-sectionally, highly stressed postmenopausal women have shorter telomeres, but only if they are inactive. However, no studies have prospectively examined telomere length change over a short period, and if rate of attrition is affected by naturalistic factors such as stress and engagement in healthy behaviors, including diet, exercise, and sleep. Here we followed...
Published 07/29/2014    Read More...
Telomere shortening in arteries could lead to telomere uncapping and cellular senescence, which in turn could promote the development of hypertension....
Published 04/30/2014    Read More...
Telomeres are specialized nucleoprotein structures that protect chromosomal ends from degradation. These structures progressively shorten during cellular division and can signal replicative senescence below a critical length. Telomere length is predominantly maintained by the enzyme telomerase. Significant decreases in telomere length and telomerase activity are associated with a host of chronic diseases; conversely their maintenance underpins the optimal function of the adaptive immune system....
Published 04/21/2014    Read More...
Recent work suggests that leukocyte telomere length (LTL), a marker of cellular aging, is sensitive to effects of social stress and may also provide early indication of premature aging. Using data from a birth cohort with LTL information at birth and in middle adulthood we examined a potential source of race-based health disparity by testing the hypothesis that Blacks would demonstrate a faster rate of telomere shortening than Whites. Linear regression analyses were conducted and adjusted for...
Published 03/29/2014    Read More...
Telomeres are biomarkers of biological aging. Shorter telomeres have been associated with increased adiposity in adults. However, this relationship remains unclear in children and adolescents....
Published 02/24/2014    Read More...
The ageing process is strongly influenced by nutrient balance, such that modest calorie restriction (CR) extends lifespan in mammals. Irisin, a newly described hormone released from skeletal muscles after exercise, may induce CR-like effects by increasing adipose tissue energy expenditure. Using telomere length as a marker of ageing, this study investigates associations between body composition, plasma irisin levels and peripheral blood mononuclear cell telomere length in healthy, non-obese...
Published 01/29/2014    Read More...
Telomere length provides an estimate of cellular aging and is influenced by oxidative stress and health behaviors such as diet and exercise. This article describes relationships between telomere length and sleep parameters that included total sleep time (TST), wake after sleep onset (WASO), and self-reported sleep quality in a sample of adults with chronic illness....
Published 01/01/2014    Read More...
Strong and consistent evidence exists that physical activity reduces breast cancer risk by 10-25 %, and several proposed biologic mechanisms have now been investigated in randomized, controlled, exercise intervention trials. Leading hypothesized mechanisms relating to postmenopausal breast cancer include adiposity, endogenous sex hormones, insulin resistance, and chronic low-grade inflammation. In addition, other pathways are emerging as potentially important, including those involving...
Published 12/15/2013    Read More...
To explore the usefulness of carotid ultrasound examination as a marker of aging and predictor of disability among older people....
Published 09/30/2013    Read More...