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Updated: Apr 19, 2026

Telomere Length and Telomerase Activity; A Yin and Yang of Cell Senescence
Published on: May 22, 2013
Reduced telomere length in neurodegenerative disorders may suggest shared biology
Lakshmi Narayanan Kota1, Srikala Bharath, Meera Purushottam
1From the Dept. of Psychiatry (LNK, SB, MP, NSM, PTS, MV, SJ) and the Dept. of Neurology (PKP), National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, Bangalore, Karnataka, India.
Abstract:
Early cell death is a feature of neurodegenerative disorders. Telomere shortening is related to premature cellular senescence and could be a marker for cellular pathology in neurological diseases. Relative telomere length in dementia (N=70), Huntington's disease (N=35), ataxia telangiectasia (N=9), and age-group matched control samples (N=105) was measured as relative telomere copy/single copy gene ratios. Individuals with Huntington's disease had the lowest relative telomere copy/single copy gene ratio (0.21), followed by ataxia telangiectasia (0.31) and dementia (0.48). The younger control group had the highest relative telomere copy/single copy gene ratio (1.07). The reduced telomere length could be indicative of shared biological pathways across these disorders contributing to cellular senescence.
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