title: The MNS16A polymorphism in the TERT gene in peri-centenarians from the Han Chinese population.
abstract: MNS16A, a variable number of tandem repeats polymorphism in the TERT gene, has been suggested to regulate telomerase activity. As telomerase activity has been reported to be related to life-span, we hypothesized that this polymorphism might affect human longevity by controlling the length of the telomere. To test this hypothesis, we collected 446 unrelated pericentenarian individuals (age[Symbol: see text]90, mean 94.45±3.45 years) and 332 normal controls (age 22-53, mean 35.0±12.0 years) from Dujiangyan, Sichuan, China. We typed the MNS16A polymorphism in both groups, and compared the allele and genotype frequencies between the peri-centenarian and control groups using the chi-squared test. There was no significant difference between the peri-centenarian and control groups. Thus, the MNS16A polymorphism in TERT might not influence human life-span, at least in the Han Chinese population studied here.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Genetic Resources and Evolution, Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, 650223, China.
authors.forename: LiNa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: ChengYe
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Xiang
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: FuHui
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Xiao
authors.forename: HuaWei
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: LiQin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: LiangYou
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: QingPeng
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Kong
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000483:Alleles; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002681:China; D005260:Female; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D008136:Longevity; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D020080:Tandem Repeat Sequences; D019098:Telomerase / Q000235:genetics*; D016615:Telomere / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: C509186:TERT protein, human; D019098:Telomerase