Scientists from the Spanish Center for Cancer Research have succeeded in creating mice with super-long telomeres in their chromosomes. At the same time, the animals remained young longer. In their work, scientists did not resort to genetic manipulation, but used epigenetic mechanisms. The research was published in the journal Nature Communications on Thursday, June 2.
Telomeres are the ends of chromosomes and have a protective function. Every time a copy of DNA is synthesized in preparation for cell division, telomeres shorten. Since there are no genes in telomeres, the loss of their fragments does not harm cells. With age, the length of telomeres becomes less and less, and when it reaches a critical value, the cell dies or stops dividing. This is why scientists believe that telomere shortening is associated with aging.
Early research showed that the transformation of normal cells into stem cells by epigenetic reprogramming leads to lengthening of telomeres. Later, it was shown that the same phenomenon occurs spontaneously in the culture of embryonic stem cells, while the ends of the chromosomes are elongated twice. However, scientists decided to test what would happen if a mouse grew out of these cells.
The results demonstrated that the DNA of cells from mice with hyper-long telomeres accumulates less damage and is more efficiently repaired by special enzymes. Moreover, the modified animals were less likely to develop cancerous tumors than normal animals. In general, mice with long telomeres stayed young at the molecular level longer.
The next step, according to scientists, will be the creation of a new species of mice, which will have telomeres twice as long. Thus, experts intend to study whether such animals will live longer compared to other rodents.
Epigenetic mechanisms are understood as a way to regulate gene activity not by changes in the DNA sequence, but through various compounds that interact with genes or proteins associated with them.