Caffeine promotes the expression of telomerase reverse transcriptase to regulate cellular senescence and aging
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Updated: Nov 12, 2025

Techniques to Induce and Quantify Cellular Senescence
Published on: May 1, 2017
Li Tao1, Wei Zhang, Yaxin Zhang
1School of Biotechnology, Tianjin University of Science and Technology, Key Lab of Industrial Fermentation Microbiology of the Ministry of Education, State Key Laboratory of Food Nutrition and Safety, Tianjin 300457, China. diaoaipo@tust.edu.cn liyuyin@tust.edu.cn.
Abstract:
Telomere shortening is one of the main causes of cellular senescence. Caffeine is a natural stimulant most commonly found in coffee and tea. In this study, caffeine was found to promote the expression of telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) at both mRNA and protein levels, and consequently extended the telomere length and prevented cellular senescence. Knockdown of TERT eliminated the effect of caffeine on telomere elongation. Moreover, animal studies indicated that caffeine promoted the expression of TERT and extended the telomere length in the thymus and spleen of mice treated with caffeine for a long period of eight months. In addition, caffeine restored the decline of organ index and improved the histological structural change of the thymus, spleen and liver of mice due to aging. These results suggest that caffeine promotes the expression of TERT to delay cellular senescence and aging, which help to understand the mechanism for the beneficial effects of caffeine containing foods on health.
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