Fish image of telomereALEXEI PROTOPOPOV, PH.D. BELFER INSTITUTE FOR APPLIED CANCER SCIENCES
E. Sahin et al., “Telomere dysfunction induces metabolic and mitochondrial compromise,” Nature, 470:359-65, 2011. Free F1000 evaluation
Many cellular processes have been implicated in aging, but how these systems interact has remained a mystery. Ron DePinho of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute linked DNA damage from telomere dysfunction to reduced mitochondrial function, placing “telomeres and mitochondria right in the same axis of aging science,” DePinho says.
In a mouse model of aging, animals with short telomeres display downregulated mitochondrial master regulator proteins known as PGCs as well as increased heart failure and liver dysfunction. When researchers forced expression of telomerase to rebuild telomeres, or when the PGC proteins were overexpressed, the aging phenotype was partially rescued.
In these mice, p53 overexpression led to mitochondrial dysfunction via blocking ...
