Flanary Barry E, Kletetschka Gunther
Department of Neuroscience, McKnight Brain Institute, University of Florida College of Medicine, Gainesville, Florida 32610-0244, USA.
Rejuvenation Res. 2006 Spring;9(1):61-3. doi: 10.1089/rej.2006.9.61.
Normal somatic cells have a finite replicative capacity, and with each cell division telomeres progressively shorten, unless the telomerase enzyme is present. The bristlecone pine, Pinus longaeva, is the oldest known living eukaryotic organism, with the oldest on record turning 4770 years old in 2005. The results from our study of telomere length and telomerase activity in samples (needle, root, core) from P. longaeva with age, and in other tree species of various lifespans, support the hypothesis that both increased telomere length and telomerase activity may contribute to the increased lifespan and longevity evident in long-lived pine trees (i.e., 2000- to 5000-year lifespan) compared with medium-lived (400- to 500-year lifespan) and short-lived (100- to 200-year lifespan) pine trees, as well as in P. longaeva with age.
正常体细胞具有有限的复制能力，并且每次细胞分裂时端粒都会逐渐缩短，除非存在端粒酶。狐尾松（Pinus longaeva）是已知最古老的现存真核生物，有记录的最古老的狐尾松在2005年达到了4770岁。我们对不同树龄狐尾松样本（针叶、根、树芯）以及不同寿命的其他树种进行端粒长度和端粒酶活性研究的结果支持了这样一种假设：与中等寿命（400至500年寿命）和短寿命（100至200年寿命）的松树相比，以及随着树龄增长，端粒长度增加和端粒酶活性增加都可能有助于长寿松树（即寿命为2000至5000年）表现出的寿命延长和长寿现象。
