Telomere attrition
DETelomerverkürzung
Telomere attrition is the gradual shortening of the protective caps at your chromosome ends. (Those caps are repeats of the sequence TTAGGG.) They shorten a little with each cell division. Two things cause it. One is the 'end-replication problem': cells cannot fully copy the very tips. The other is oxidative damage. Once telomeres get critically short, the cell stops dividing (replicative senescence) or self-destructs (apoptosis), through a DNA-damage response. Telomerase is the enzyme that can rebuild telomeres. But it is largely switched off in your adult body cells. Faster attrition is linked to premature-aging syndromes, cardiovascular disease, and a shorter healthspan.
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Sources
- López-Otín C, Blasco MA, Partridge L, Serrano M, Kroemer G. (2013). The Hallmarks of Aging. *Cell*doi:10.1016/j.cell.2013.05.039
- Epel ES, Blackburn EH, Lin J, Dhabhar FS, Adler NE, Morrow JD, Cawthon RM. (2004). Accelerated telomere shortening in response to life stress. *Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA*doi:10.1073/pnas.0407162101