title: Telomere length dynamics in the human pituitary gland: robust preservation throughout adult life to centenarian age.
abstract: Many studies have demonstrated the association between telomere length in mitotic cells and aging, but the relationship between telomere length in post-mitotic cells and aging in human populations has remained largely unclear. In this study, we assessed the dynamics of telomere length (terminal restriction fragment length-TRF) in normal pituitary glands obtained at autopsy from 65 patients aged between 0 and 100 years. The initial length (the value for neonatal pituitary) was 14.2 ± 1.1 kbp (mean of the median TRF value ± SD), being the longest among those for other systemic organs. The annual telomere reduction rates for pituitary (21 bp) were equivalent to or below the lowest values for various cells and tissues. Hence, comparison of TRF lengths among organs revealed that the pituitary gland retained longer telomeres than most other organs throughout life. The median TRF value showed a significant decrease between newborns and the 61-75 age group, but then leveled off or increased slightly in advanced age groups. These data indicate that innate telomere length is highly conserved in the pituitary and suggest that pituitary telomere length provides a good basic indicator for studies of telomere biology.
authors: Research Team for Geriatric Pathology, Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Gerontology, Sakaecho 35-2 Itabashi-ku, Tokyo, Japan. naoshi@tmig.or.jp
authors: Naoshi
authors: N
authors: Ishikawa
authors: Ken-Ichi
authors: K
authors: Nakamura
authors: Naotaka
authors: N
authors: Izumiyama
authors: Junko
authors: J
authors: Aida
authors: Motoji
authors: M
authors: Sawabe
authors: Tomio
authors: T
authors: Arai
authors: Hiroshi
authors: H
authors: Kishimoto
authors: Mutsunori
authors: M
authors: Fujiwara
authors: Akio
authors: A
authors: Ishii
authors: Kaiyo
authors: K
authors: Takubo
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000235:genetics*; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001344:Autopsy; D015139:Blotting, Southern; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010902:Pituitary Gland / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology*; D012150:Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length; D012494:Sampling Studies; D016615:Telomere / Q000235:genetics / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D059505:Telomere Homeostasis / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult