Telomere biology of the chicken: a model for aging research.
Division-dependent telomere shortening correlating with age triggers senescence on a cellular level and telomere dysfunction can facilitate oncogenesis. Therefore, the study of telomere biology is critical to the understanding of aging and cancer. The domestic chicken, a classic model for the study of developmental biology, possesses a telomere genome with highly conserved aspects and distinctive features which make it uniquely suited for the study of telomere maintenance mechanisms, their function and dysfunction. The purpose of this review is to highlight the chicken as a model for aging research, specifically as a model for telomere and telomerase research, and to increase its utility as such by describing developments in the study of chicken telomeres and telomerase in the context of related research in human and mouse.
Swanberg
Susan E
SE
Department of Animal Science, University of California, One Shields Avenue, Davis, CA 95616, United States. seswanberg@ucdavis.edu
O'Hare
Thomas H
TH
Robb
Elizabeth A
EA
Robinson
Charmaine M
CM
Chang
Hong
H
Delany
Mary E
ME
D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D002460:Cell Line; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D002642:Chick Embryo / Q000502:physiology; D002645:Chickens / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D005347:Fibroblasts / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D023421:Models, Animal; D012730:Sex Chromosomes / Q000502:physiology; D013045:Species Specificity; D019098:Telomerase / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D016615:Telomere / Q000502:physiology*
D019098:Telomerase