Dec 11
9
Telomere research is a very integral segment of cell physiology. Telomeres are repetitive sequences of DNA found at the tip of a chromosome. In 1970, a Russian scientist Alexei Olovnikov first noticed that the tips of chromosomes do not divide at all, and so he then suggested that whenever a cell divides, some parts of that “tip” shed off, until the loss is so substantial such that the cell cannot divide any further, and so dies. A little while later, Elizabeth Blackburn, while doing postdoctoral studies at Yale, determines that these telomeres are repetitive DNA sequences at chromosome tips. The telomere does indeed shorten at each cell division, so a cell can’t divide perpetually – the length of the telomeres determine the number of divisions a cell can take.
Further telomere research has shown that telomeres are cellular-level determinants of aging, and that telomeres prevent chromosomes from rearranging or sticking to each other, for when chromosomes begin doing these cancer may result. Once cells have no telomeres left, they die. Such is the might of cancer cells – they have ways of escaping destruction even if they have no telomeres left.
One valuable branch of telomere research concerns the mechanism through which cancer cells divide. Remember that cells with shorter telomeres are nearer to death than cells with longer telomeres. However, telomere research has shown that cancer cells, while having mostly short telomeres, can still divide indiscriminately. How could that be? Telomere research has found out that there is an enzyme called telomerase, which prevents telomere shortening and can even encourage telomere elongation. Telomerase append bases to already existing telomeres.
Telomere research has verified that telomerase appears in nine-tenths of all cancer cells, in stem cells, and in germ cells, but not so much in ordinary body cells (somatic cells). What does that suggest? Any drug which inhibits telomerase function can cure cancer, because that drug will affect cancer cells only, because they are the ones in which telomerase is expressed more, and not somatic cells, which have little or no telomerase expression at all.
Now, what about in individuals with healthy bodies? Can they benefit from telomere research? Of course, they can – for telomere research covers not only defective cells, but also healthy cells in healthy persons. Telomere research has shown, for example, that maintaining a healthy lifestyle in general, consisting of proper diet, exercise, and rest, increases telomerase expression. Intake of foods containing omega-3 fatty acids and meditation was also linked with increased telomerase expression. Is that encouraging enough for us? Telomere research has not yet unlocked any definitive causative relationship with any of these variables and with telomerase expression, but is surely encouraging to hear, for this is some verification that lifestyle changes can affect cell growth at the molecular level.
Finally, telomere research touches on one infliction which, for many of us, is self-evidently inevitable: aging. Ongoing telomere research is currently investigating the role cellular aging plays in overall aging of an organism, and on whether trying to slowdown cellular aging can also slow down overall aging. Telomere research also focuses on creating technologies which will benefit us in many ways, from stopping aging to stopping cancer.
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