Leukocytes of exceptionally old persons display ultra-short telomeres.
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.
Kimura
M
M
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. kimurama@umdnj.edu
Barbieri
M
M
Gardner
J P
JP
Skurnick
J
J
Cao
X
X
van Riel
N
N
Rizzo
M R
MR
Paoliso
G
G
Aviv
A
A
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000235:genetics*; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007962:Leukocytes / Q000502:physiology*; D008136:Longevity / Q000235:genetics*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016615:Telomere / Q000502:physiology* / Q000648:ultrastructure*