Telomere Shortening and Alzheimer’s Disease

Abstract

Telomeres, at the ends of chromosomes and strands of genetic material, become shorter as cells divide in the process of aging. Telomere length has been considered as a biological marker of age. Telomere length shortening has also been evidenced as the causable role in age-related neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer's disease (AD). It has been demonstrated that telomere shortening has been associated with cognitive impairment, amyloid pathology and hyper-phosphorylation of tau in AD and plays an important role in the pathogenesis of AD via the mechanism of oxidative stress and inflammation. However, it seems that there is no relationship between telomere shortening and AD. Therefore, it is essential for further clarification of telomere-related pathogenesis in AD.

Neurodegeneration-associated instability of ribosomal DNA.

“…In both Alzheimer's disease and Dementia with Lewy Bodies telomere length was decreased in peripheral blood leukocytes, and, at least in the case of Alzheimer's disease, increased in the hippocampus, a brain structure directly affected by Alzheimer's disease pathology [20][21][22].…”

“…The gradual loss of telomeres is a well-documented aspect of cellular senescence, but interestingly both expansions and contractions of telomere content have been documented in neurodegenerative disease. Accelerated telomere loss has been documented in the leukocytes of patients with Alzheimer's disease and Dementia with Lewy Bodies [20][21][22][23]. Conversely, increased telomere content has been documented in the hippocampus of Alzheimer's disease patients [20].…”

<b><i>hTERT, BICD1</i></b> and Chromosome 18 Polymorphisms Associated with Telomere Length Affect Kidney Allograft Function After Transplantation

“…Telomere length (TL) has been analysed with regard to cell senescence and ageing of animals and humans, including age-related diseases [1,2,3,4] There have been also attempts to link the accelerating transplanted organ ageing with TL and telomerase activity assessments [5,6]. The context of kidney transplantation outcome is currently of particular interest, because TL has turned out to be a determinant of post-transplant organ function [7].…”

The role of the nucleolus in neurodegeneration.

“…Interestingly, a similar trend has been documented in the genomic content of another highly repetitive sequence, the telomere. In both AD and DLB telomere length was decreased in peripheral blood leukocytes, and, at least in the case of AD, increased in the hippocampus, a brain structure directly affected by AD pathology [29,127,243].…”

“…The gradual loss of telomeres is a well-documented aspect of cellular senescence, but interestingly both expansions and contractions of telomere content have been documented in neurodegenerative disease. Accelerated telomere loss has been documented in the leukocytes of patients with AD and DLB [29,127,216,243].…”