ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE@#In human, both in vivo and in vitro, telomere shortening appears to be a major component of cell senescence and aging. The detailed telomere shortening status and mechanism in peripheral blood cell is needed to be further characterized.@*METHODS@#One hundred and twenty three peripheral blood samples were collected from healthy individuals of different age groups and the mean telomeric restricted fragment (TRF) was measured using Southern Blotting with Dig labeled probe. The samples of different groups were homogenized in sex components as indicated by chi 2 test of sex ratio of different test groups (P > 0.05).@*RESULTS@#The average length of TRF is shortening with aging and distinguished shortening dynamic profiles could be observed. Further analysis showed that there might be a shortening peak near the age of 5.@*CONCLUSION@#There are distinguished dynamics profiles of telomere shortening among different age groups. Thus, the results indicate that it might be possible to infer individual age by telomeric restricted fragment length assay.
Subject(s)
Adolescent , Adult , Aged , Child , Child, Preschool , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Aging/genetics , Blood Cells , Blotting, Southern/methods , Cell Division , Cells, Cultured , Cellular Senescence , DNA/genetics , DNA Replication , Forensic Medicine , Repetitive Sequences, Nucleic Acid , Telomere/physiologyABSTRACT
Objective In human,both in vivo and in vitro,telomere shortening appears to be a major component of cell senescence and aging. However, gender specific human telomere shortening needs to be further characterized. Therefore our study is aimed at clarifying gender-dependent profiles of telomere shortening. Methods 123 peripheral blood samples were collected from healthy individuals of different ages. The mean telomeric restricted fragment (TRF) was measured using Southern Blotting with Dig-labeled probe. Results Distinguished dynamics profiles of telomere shortening were observed among different age groups. Conclusion The result indicates that there are gender specific dynamic profiles of telomere shortening. Therefore, the gender must be considered when an individual age is estimated by telomeric restricted fragment length assay.