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Updated: May 16, 2026

Utilizing Murine Inducible Telomerase Alleles in the Studies of Tissue Degeneration/Regeneration and Cancer
Published on: April 13, 2015
Human skin fibroblast telomeres are shortened after ultraviolet irradiation
1Department of Dermatology, First Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University Hospital One, Shenyang, Liaoning, China.
Objective:
Telomere length was used as a biomarker of cell senescence to explore the role of telomere shortening in photoageing induced by ultraviolet A (UVA) light.
Methods:
Real-time polymerase chain reaction was used to determine telomere length in cultured human fibroblasts of different generations and after exposure to UVA at doses up to 10 000 mJ/cm(2). Twoway analysis of variance was used to determine whether passaging or UVA was the main factor contributing to telomere shortening.
Results:
In nonirradiated cells, telomere length was inversely related to cell generation number. In fibroblasts exposed to UVA at a dose of 1000 or 10 000 mJ/cm(2), telomere length was significantly shorter than that of nonirradiated controls and was negatively related to UVA dose.
Conclusions:
Telomere length and subsequent cell viability may be affected by UVA irradiation. DNA damage caused by UVA irradiation may initiate the photoageing process and telomeres may be a useful new target for attempts to prevent photoageing.
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