Telomere uncapping and vascular aging

Although most telomere biology research continues to focus on telomere shortening, there is increasing evidence that telomere deprotection, or "uncapping," is more biologically and possibly clinically important. Telomeres form t-loops to prevent the chromosome ends from appearing as a doub...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:American journal of physiology. Heart and circulatory physiology 2018-07, Vol.315 (1), p.H1-H5
Main Authors: Morgan, R Garrett, Donato, Anthony J, Walker, Ashley E
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aging
Animals
Blood Vessels - growth & development
Blood Vessels - metabolism
Cellular Senescence
Cellular structure
Chromosomes
Deoxyribonucleic acid
DNA
DNA damage
Humans
Inflammation
Oxidative stress
Review
Senescence
Telomere - genetics
Telomere - metabolism
Telomere Homeostasis
Telomeres
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Summary:Although most telomere biology research continues to focus on telomere shortening, there is increasing evidence that telomere deprotection, or "uncapping," is more biologically and possibly clinically important. Telomeres form t-loops to prevent the chromosome ends from appearing as a double-stranded DNA break and initiating a DNA damage response. Breakdown of the t-loop structure, referred to as uncapping, can lead to cellular senescence, increased oxidative stress, and inflammation in tissues. In this review, we describe how telomere uncapping potentially leads to age-related vascular dysfunction and increased cellular senescence, oxidative stress, and inflammation. Importantly, we present evidence to argue that telomere uncapping is more biologically relevant than telomere shortening and a better marker of vascular aging and target for antiaging interventions.
ISSN:0363-6135
1522-1539
DOI:10.1152/ajpheart.00008.2018