Canela Andrés, Klatt Peter, Blasco María A
Telomeres and Telomerase Group, Molecular Oncology Program, Spanish National Cancer Center, Madrid, Spain.
Methods Mol Biol. 2007;371:45-72. doi: 10.1007/978-1-59745-361-5_5.
Most somatic cells of long-lived species undergo telomere shortening throughout life. Critically short telomeres trigger loss of cell viability in tissues, which has been related to alteration of tissue function and loss of regenerative capabilities in aging and aging-related diseases. Hence, telomere length is an important biomarker for aging and can be used in the prognosis of aging diseases. These facts highlight the importance of developing methods for telomere length determination that can be employed to evaluate telomere length during the human aging process. Telomere length quantification methods have improved greatly in accuracy and sensitivity since the development of the conventional telomeric Southern blot. Here, we describe the different methodologies recently developed for telomere length quantification, as well as their potential applications for human aging studies.
长寿物种的大多数体细胞在整个生命过程中都会经历端粒缩短。极短的端粒会引发组织中细胞活力的丧失，这与衰老及衰老相关疾病中组织功能的改变和再生能力的丧失有关。因此，端粒长度是衰老的一个重要生物标志物，可用于衰老疾病的预后评估。这些事实凸显了开发端粒长度测定方法的重要性，这些方法可用于评估人类衰老过程中的端粒长度。自从传统的端粒Southern印迹法开发以来，端粒长度定量方法在准确性和灵敏度方面有了很大提高。在此，我们描述了最近开发的用于端粒长度定量的不同方法，以及它们在人类衰老研究中的潜在应用。
