How Do Telomeres Affect Ageing : Telomerases And Cell Ageing
How telomeres and telomerases do affect cellular aging is of high interest to the wellness community because of their links to an improved lifespan. DNA forms the basis of most lifeforms on planet Earth. Our DNA is made of a certain number of nucleic acids in various combinations. DNA forms the core basis from which the body develops.
DNA is susceptible to damages from external influences and this is harmful for the body in most cases. For these reasons our bodies have developed various means of protecting our DNA. This includes the production of antioxidant enzymes and corrective DNA processes.
Another way the cells within the body can protect DNA and prevent accelerated cellular aging is through the use of protective telomerases. These are enzymes that protect chromosomal telomeres from degradation and affect their overall length.
Exposed telomeres can cause various issues within cells and also accelerate cellular aging. Telomerase enzymes are widespread and found in various lifeforms. Telomere length issues are linked to cardiovascular health problems, cancer and degenerative diseases.
In this article the ways in which telomeres and telomerases do have an influence on our health or how they may affect aging will be considered.
How Does Telomere Length Affect Aging
Your telomeres are specific areas located at the ends of your chromosomal DNA sequences. They are intermittent repeats of DNA that do not code for proteins and are usually repeats of the same DNA bases. They hang over the end of chromosomal DNA. Telomeres by nature are lengthy sequences of DNA and form a physical loop that attracts protective telomere proteins.
They have developed to protect chromosomal DNA from unusual degradation or combination. Without a telomere loop at the end of chromosomal DNA some damage can occur to essential coding pieces of DNA.
As you can imagine the ends of DNA are very susceptible to problematic variations or changes. Highly exposed chromosomal telomere ends are a target for serious DNA changes and oxidative damage. Oxidative stress damage and accumulated mistakes in DNA replication are the leading causes for telomere shortening. These changes to telomeres can affect or cause very accelerated cellular aging and cell death in some cases. Telomere shortening may also result in the loss of genetic material during cell division.
The length of chromosomal telomeres is therefore an indication of accumulated oxidative stress or DNA replication errors and how these affect or are influencing the overall aging of cells. Telomere length is a very complex thing and there are other influences on cellular aging too. Studies have linked the reduced length of telomere DNA to an accelerated aging affect within cells.
How Does Telomerase Affect Aging
Current research suggests that the ends of our chromosomal DNA require telomerases to complete proper DNA replication or to fully protect DNA following replication. This is because DNA replication leaves the ends open during each cycle of cell division.
Because telomerase enzymes interact with telomeres they may affect cell aging. Without telomerases our telomeres or large end portions of DNA are exposed and this can affect or lead to the acceleration of the cell death or aging processes. The prevention of the shortening of telomeres or their extension by telomerase is protective of cellular DNA and may affect the aging of cells. Telomerase restabilises DNA via this action and may preserve cellular lifespan.
Studies have found that restoring telomerase activity may actually affect ageing by reversing the process of aging in some animals. This nicely backs up evidence from studies showing that reduced telomeres contribute to accelerated cell aging. More recent studies show that human telomerase may preserve cellular lifespan and reduce aging. This would improve the functioning and efficiency of cells over time.
How Do Telomeres Affect Cancer
Without DNA telomeres you are more prone to oxidative damage to coding DNA. This can be problematic and increases in high energy molecule damage to exposed DNA can also affect risk of cancer. Exposed DNA can accumulate DNA changes and this can lead to cancer.
For optimal cancer prevention you ideally need to ensure that your telomeres are protected by antioxidants and are also in optimal health themselves. This includes healthy levels of telomerase activity that can also protect coding DNA through telomere extension. Telomerase DNA extension reduces risk of oxidative damage to coding DNA and may affect cancer risk.
Many human tumor cells have short telomeres but high activity of lengthening telomerases. Most non malignant cells have more regulated telomerase levels and also more lengthy telomeres. Excessive oxidative stress may activate a telomerase DNA lengthening response which provides a counteracting or DNA conserving activity to preserve lifespan.
How Does Stress Affect Telomeres
Levels of stress or perceived stress in modern society have reached extraordinary levels and is linked to various diseases. Research suggests that stress and telomere damage may also be linked.
Accumulated stress or perceived stress in our lives can promote oxidative cell stress. A parallel accumulation of stress and causative oxidative cell stress can lead to increases in cancer risk. Studies have found that cancer risk can increase with individuals who are stressed in their lives. Perceived stress and parallel increases in oxidative stress could also accelerate aging.
Oxidative stress may affect telomeres and their length which may influence increased risks of cancer. Stress could therefore affect the telomeres and cancer risk via a parallel accumulation of oxidative stress.
Oxidative stress, systemic inflammation, unhealthy lifestyles and environmental influences may accelerate telomere shortening. Studies have found there is a link between psychosocial stress, shortened telomers and chronic disease risk. This includes suffers of depression, anxiety and stressed people with the cortisol stress response linked to telomere shortening.
People with higher perceived stress levels seem to have shortened telomers too and this can occur in early life. This includes caregivers who are under high levels of perceived stress with smokers being more vulnerable too.
Sleep Stress And Telomere Length
Other studies have found that sleep stress can affect telomeres. Sleep deprived workers showed shortened telomeres within leukocytes which are important immune cells. Similar research has linked sleep disturbances with shortened telomeres. Enhancing the activity of telomerase may also benefit T cell functioning during aging.
Excessive stress can lead to neuroinflammation via oxidative stress. Healthy telomerase activity and telomere length may also be important in neuroinflammatory or degenerative conditions as this may influence nerve cell survival under different stresses. Cognitive diseases such as dementia are linked with telomere shortening.
Telomerase Activity And Oxidative Stress
There seems to be a strong link between the telomerase and oxidative stress theories of cellular aging. Low telomerase activity with shortened telomeres and high oxidative stress levels are linked with accelerations in aging.
Studies have shown that high antioxidant levels reduce the shortening of telomeres and may improve release of telomerases. Stress proteins in the body might moderate this and release telomerases when they are needed. High levels of oxidative stress produce the opposite effect and reduce telomerase activity.
DNA methylation could be harmful for our wellbeing in many cases. This is because methylated DNA can prevent genes from producing their corresponding protein or proteins. Activities such as smoking can accumulate large clusters of methylated of DNA. DNA methylation is epigenetic or inheritable and is also associated with increased telomerase activity.
Incredibly strong antioxidant compounds like sulforaphane are able to demethylate DNA and is a powerful tumor preventative compound. Strong antioxidant compounds like sulforaphane may reset oxidative stress signals in the body and reduce need for telomerase activity.
Nutrients such as manganese may upregulate telomerase activity via superoxide dismutase production. Some very manganese rich foods include cashew nuts and spirulina. You can find our article on manganese rich foods here.
Healthy telomerase activity is essential for optimal wellness and may promote reductions in overall body aging. The shortening of telomeres may affect aging and could also be influential in the development of cancer. Stress could have a role in this to and could affect aging and cancer risk via telomeres and telomerase.
Summary
If you are into anti aging you may have asked yourself how do telomeres and telomerases affect cellular aging. Recent research into telomeres has popularised their relevance with aging. This is mainly because of the ability of telomeres to preserve cells from aging.
Your telomeres are located at the end of chromosomal DNA sequences and are a loop of DNA sequences and bound proteins. Telomeres protect the coding part of your DNA from damage. This can come from oxidative stress or replication errors. The ends of the DNA are very problematic and when exposed they are prone to oxidative stress. This can actually cause accelerated cellular aging and cell death.
Telomerase protects DNA from damage via extending the ends of the telomeres. This means that telomerase and length of telomeres could positively affect cell aging. Telomerase restabilises DNA and could preserve cellular lifespan or functioning.
Without telomeres and optimal telomerase activity you could be more prone to oxidative stress damage. This would increase cancer risk.
Excessive oxidative stress may activate telomerase with stress crisis signalling proteins to counteract the stress and preserve cellular lifespan via DNA conservation.
Perceived or psychosocial stress may influence oxidative stress and cause telomere damage. Studies have linked the cortisol stress response and unhealthy lifestyles to reductions in telomere length. Sleep stress also seems to shorten telomeres in leukocytes. Cognitive diseases such as dementia are also linked with telomere shortening.
Healthy telomerase activity or length of telomeres is essential for optimal wellness and may have an affect on overall body aging.
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