Function of telomere in aging and age related diseases.
Level 5 - mechanism / opinion, no new human data
Narrative review of telomere biology and mechanistic associations with no original empirical data or systematic search methodology.
PubMed 33774188 · doi:10.1016/j.etap.2021.103641
What was done
This paper is a narrative review examining the biological function of telomeres, mechanisms of telomere shortening during cell division and senescence, and their relationship with aging and age-related disease pathology.
What was found
Mammalian telomeres span 1–50 kb of DNA, shorten by 40–200 base pairs per cell cycle, and are 5–8 kb shorter at senescence. The abstract notes that short telomeres in peripheral blood leukocytes and tissue cells show promise as predictive markers for age-related diseases, though factors influencing telomere length remain incompletely understood due to methodological variation.
Why it matters
It summarizes fundamental telomere kinetics and contextualizes why telomere length analysis is being explored as a predictive biomarker for age-associated conditions.
Limits
The paper provides no primary empirical data or systematic review methodology. The abstract highlights that study differences and a lack of prospective studies hinder definitive clinical translation of telomere length measurement.
Cited by
- context Diseases of aging are typically diagnosed and cells enter senescence when telomeres shorten to about 5,000 base pairs.