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Updated: Nov 11, 2025

Telomere Length and Telomerase Activity; A Yin and Yang of Cell Senescence
Published on: May 22, 2013
Function of telomere in aging and age related diseases
Haktan Bağış Erdem1, Taha Bahsi1, Mehmet Ali Ergün2
1Department of Medical Genetics, University of Health Sciences, Dr. Abdurrahman Yurtaslan Ankara Oncology Training and Research Hospital, Yenimahalle, Ankara, Turkey.
Abstract:
Telomeres consist of specialized non-coding DNA repeat sequences. They are essential for preserving the integrity of the genome during cancer development, senescence. Mammalian telomeres might have 1-50 kb of telomeric DNA, which becomes 40-200 base pairs shorter after per cell cycle, and becomes 5-8 kilobase shorter during senescence. There are many studies on the correlation of telomere length and aging rate. However, as the differences in the methods used in the studies and the scarcity of prospective studies, factors affecting telomere length are not really well understood. Some of the age related diseases may develop due to telomere dysfunction and telomere shortness. The short telomere structure detected in both peripheral blood leukocytes and cells of the disease-related tissue has the feature of being a predictive marker for many age-related diseases. It is expected that with future research, telomere length analysis is expected to enter clinical practice.
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