Questioning causal involvement of telomeres in aging.


Author: Simons MJ1.

Affiliation: 1Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield, Sheffield S10 2TN, Sheffield, United Kingdom. Electronic address: mirresimons@gmail.com.
Conference/Journal: Ageing Res Rev
Date published: 2015 Aug 21
Other:
  Pages: S1568-1637(15)30015-5   ,  Special Notes: doi: 10.1016/j.arr.2015.08.002   ,  Word Count: 119  
    

Multiple studies have demonstrated that telomere length predicts mortality and that telomeres shorten with age. Although rarely acknowledged these associations do not dictate causality. I review telomerase knockout and overexpression studies and find little support that telomeres cause aging. In addition, the causality hypothesis assumes that there is a critical telomere length at which senescence is induced. This generates the prediction that variance in telomere length decreases with age. In contrast, using meta-analysis of human data, I find no such decline. Inferring the causal involvement of telomeres in aging from current knowledge is therefore speculative and could hinder scientific progress.

Copyright © 2015 Z. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

KEYWORDS:

Epidemiology; Human; Meta-analysis; Mortality; Senescence; Telomere length

PMID: 26304838