FERREIRA , Miguel Godinho

Fish telomere lengths vary significantly across the numerous species, implicating diverse life strategies and environmental adaptations. Zebrafish have telomere dynamics that are comparable to humans and are emerging as a key model in which to unravel the systemic effects of telomere shortening on aging and interorgan communication. Here, we...

Abstract Telomerase activity is restricted in humans and telomere attrition occurs in several tissues accompanying natural aging. Critically short telomeres trigger DNA damage responses and activate p53 that result in apoptosis or replicative senescence. These processes reduce cell proliferation and disrupt tissue homeostasis, thus contributing...

ABSTRACT Telomere length, unlike most genetic traits, is epigenetic, in the sense that it is not fully coded by the genome. Telomeres vary in length and randomly assort to the progeny leaving some individuals with longer and others with shorter telomeres. Telomerase activity counteracts this by extending telomeres in the germline and during...

Abstract Telomerase activity is restricted in humans and telomere attrition occurs in several tissues accompanying natural aging. Critically short telomeres trigger DNA damage responses and activate p53 which leads to apoptosis or replicative senescence. These processes reduce cell proliferation and disrupt tissue homeostasis, thus contributing...

Abstract Telomeres are nucleoprotein complexes that protect the chromosome-ends from eliciting DNA repair while ensuring their complete duplication. Pot1 is a subunit of telomere capping complex that binds to the G-rich overhang and inhibits the activation of DNA damage checkpoints. In this study, we explore new functions of fission yeast Pot1...

Telomere shortening is a hallmark of aging and is counteracted by telomerase. The gut is one of the earliest organs to exhibit short telomeres and tissue dysfunction during normal zebrafish aging. This is recapitulated in prematurely aged telomerase mutants ( tert-/- ). Here, we show that gut-specific telomerase activity in tert-/- zebrafish...

Telomere shortening occurs in multiple tissues throughout aging. When telomeres become critically short, they trigger DNA damage responses and p53 stabilization, leading to apoptosis or replicative senescence. In vitro, cells with short telomeres activate the cGAS-STING innate immune pathway resulting in type I interferon inflammation and...

Abstract Most cancers reactivate telomerase to maintain telomere length to acquire immortality. The importance of this process is well illustrated by the fact that telomerase promoter mutations are found at a high frequency in many cancer types, including melanoma. However, it is unclear when and if telomerase is strictly required during...