The Telomere/Telomerase System in Chronic Inflammatory Diseases. Cause or Effect?
Telomeres are specialized nucleoprotein structures located at the end of linear chromosomes and telomerase is the enzyme responsible for telomere elongation. Telomerase activity is a key component of many cancer cells responsible for rapid cell division but it has also been found by many laboratories around the world that telomere/telomerase biology is dysfunctional in many other chronic conditions as well. These conditions are characterized by chronic inflammation, a situation mostly overlooked by physicians regarding patient treatment. Among others, these conditions include diabetes, renal failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, etc. Since researchers have in many cases identified the association between telomerase and inflammation but there are still many missing links regarding this correlation, the latest findings about this phenomenon will be discussed by reviewing the literature. Our focus will be describing telomere/telomerase status in chronic diseases under the prism of inflammation, reporting molecular findings where available and proposing possible future approaches.
Third Department of Internal Medicine and Diabetes Centre, Saint Panteleimon General Hospital, Nikea-Pireaus 18454, Greece. kordinasv@med.uoa.gr.|Department of Clinical Microbiology and Medical Biopathology, Athens Medical School, Aeginition Hospital, Athens 11528, Greece. kordinasv@med.uoa.gr.
Vasileios
V
Kordinas
Department of Clinical Microbiology and Medical Biopathology, Athens Medical School, Aeginition Hospital, Athens 11528, Greece. tasobi@uop.gr.|Department of Nursing, Faculty of Human Movement and Quality of Life Sciences, University of Peloponnese, Sparta 23100, Greece. tasobi@uop.gr.
Anastasios
A
Ioannidis
Department of Clinical Microbiology and Medical Biopathology, Athens Medical School, Aeginition Hospital, Athens 11528, Greece. schatzi@med.uoa.gr.
Stylianos
S
Chatzipanagiotou
inflammation; senescence; telomerase; telomeres