title: Systematic and Cell Type-Specific Telomere Length Changes in Subsets of Lymphocytes.
abstract: Telomeres, the protective DNA-protein complexes at the ends of linear chromosomes, are important for genome stability. Leukocyte or peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) telomere length is a potential biomarker for human aging that integrates genetic, environmental, and lifestyle factors and is associated with mortality and risks for major diseases. However, only a limited number of studies have examined longitudinal changes of telomere length and few have reported data on sorted circulating immune cells. We examined the average telomere length (TL) in CD4+, CD8+CD28+, and CD8+CD28- T cells, B cells, and PBMCs, cross-sectionally and longitudinally, in a cohort of premenopausal women. We report that TL changes over 18 months were correlated among these three T cell types within the same participant. Additionally, PBMC TL change was also correlated with those of all three T cell types, and B cells. The rate of shortening for B cells was significantly greater than for the three T cell types. CD8+CD28- cells, despite having the shortest TL, showed significantly more rapid attrition when compared to CD8+CD28+ T cells. These results suggest systematically coordinated, yet cell type-specific responses to factors and pathways contribute to telomere length regulation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA.
authors.forename: Jue
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA.
authors.forename: Joshua
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Cheon
authors.affiliation: Division of Epidemiology, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.
authors.forename: Rashida
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94118, USA.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Coccia
authors.affiliation: School of Kinesiology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada V6T 1Z1.
authors.forename: Eli
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Puterman
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94118, USA.
authors.forename: Kirstin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Aschbacher
authors.affiliation: Core Immunology Lab, Division of Experimental Medicine, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94110, USA.
authors.forename: Elizabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Sinclair
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94118, USA.
authors.forename: Elissa
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Epel
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA.
authors.forename: Elizabeth H
authors.initials: EH
authors.lastname: Blackburn
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D015703:Antigens, CD / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology; D015496:CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology; D018414:CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D015870:Gene Expression; D006801:Humans; D016130:Immunophenotyping; D008875:Middle Aged; D009928:Organ Specificity; D017697:Premenopause / Q000276:immunology; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology; D016615:Telomere / Q000276:immunology*; D059505:Telomere Homeostasis / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D015703:Antigens, CD