Kimura M, Barbieri M, Gardner J P, Skurnick J, Cao X, van Riel N, Rizzo M R, Paoliso G, Aviv A
Center of Human Development and Aging, Room F-464, MSB, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, New Jersey Medical School, 185 South Orange Ave., Newark, New Jersey 07103, USA.
Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol. 2007 Dec;293(6):R2210-7. doi: 10.1152/ajpregu.00615.2007. Epub 2007 Sep 26.
With a view to understanding the association between leukocyte telomere length and the human lifespan, we performed genome-wide telomere length analyses by the terminal restriction fragment length (TRFL) and single molecule telomere length analysis (STELA) of the X and Y chromosomes in leukocytes of exceptionally old (aged 90-104 yr) and younger (aged 23-74 yr) individuals. We found that the mean TRFL of 82 exceptionally old individuals was within a range projected by age-dependent TRFL attrition of 99 younger individuals. However, compared with the younger individuals, exceptionally old persons exhibited peaking of the TRFL distribution with overrepresentation of ultra-short telomeres. These findings were confirmed by the STELA. Women had longer mean TRFL than men (6.10 vs. 5.86 kb), and exceptionally old women exhibited fewer ultra-short telomeres than exceptionally old men. Our results have implications for gerontological studies of the limitation of lifespan in humans.
为了了解白细胞端粒长度与人类寿命之间的关联，我们通过对极长寿（90 - 104岁）和较年轻（23 - 74岁）个体白细胞中X和Y染色体进行末端限制片段长度（TRFL）分析及单分子端粒长度分析（STELA），开展了全基因组端粒长度分析。我们发现，82名极长寿个体的平均TRFL处于99名较年轻个体基于年龄的TRFL损耗所预测的范围内。然而，与较年轻个体相比，极长寿个体的TRFL分布出现峰值，超短端粒比例过高。这些发现通过STELA得到了证实。女性的平均TRFL长于男性（6.10对5.86 kb），极长寿女性的超短端粒比极长寿男性少。我们的结果对人类寿命限制的老年学研究具有启示意义。
