title: Aging-associated alteration of telomere length and subtelomeric status in female patients with Parkinson's disease.
abstract: A telomere is a repetitive DNA structure at chromosomal ends that stabilizes the chromosome structure and prevents harmful end-to-end recombinations. The telomere length of somatic cells becomes shorter with aging because of the "end replication problem." This telomere shortening is accelerated by pathophysiological conditions including daily mental stress. Living with Parkinson's disease (PD) causes physical and mental stress; therefore, the authors hypothesized that the telomere length of somatic cells was shortened excessively in patients with PD. In order to detect PD-associated somatic telomeric alterations, the telomere length and subtelomeric methylation status of peripheral leukocytes of PD patients were assessed by Southern blotting, using methylation-sensitive and -insensitive isoschizomers. The results demonstrated that the peripheral leukocytes of Japanese female patients with PD bore fewer long telomeres and a proportional increase of hypomethylated subtelomeres in short telomeres in comparison with the healthy controls. This study indicates that with the neurodegeneration associated with PD, telomeric and subtelomeric structural alterations occur. These structural telomere alterations most likely occur secondary to the acceleration of aging-associated telomeric changes and the accelerated loss of cells bearing short telomeres.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular, Respiratory and Geriatric Medicine, Kyushu University Beppu Hospital, 4546 Tsurumihara, Beppu, Oita, Japan. maedat@beppu.kyushu-u.ac.jp
authors.forename: Toyoki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Maeda
authors.forename: Jing Zhi
authors.initials: JZ
authors.lastname: Guan
authors.forename: Masamichi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Koyanagi
authors.forename: Yoshihiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Higuchi
authors.forename: Naoki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Makino
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging / Q000235:genetics*; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan; D008875:Middle Aged; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000235:genetics* / Q000503:physiopathology; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016615:Telomere / Q000235:genetics*; D059506:Telomere Shortening / Q000235:genetics*; D034501:Telomere-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D034501:Telomere-Binding Proteins