Title: Do
telomere dynamics link lifestyle and lifespan?
Source: TRENDS
IN ECOLOGY & EVOLUTION 21 (1): 47-53 JAN 2006
Document Type: Review
Language: English
Abstract: Identifying
and understanding the processes that underlie the observed variation in
lifespan within and among species remains one of the central areas of
biological research. Questions directed at how, at what rate and why
organisms grow old and die link disciplines such as evolutionary
ecology to those of cell biology and gerontology. One process now
thought to have a key role in ageing is the pattern of erosion of the
protective ends of chromosomes, the telomeres. Here, we discuss what is
currently known about the factors influencing telomere regulation, and
how this relates to fundamental questions about the relationship
between lifestyle and lifespan.
KeyWords Plus: LONG-LIVED
BIRDS; REPLICATIVE SENESCENCE; TUMOR SUPPRESSION; AGING ANIMALS;
IN-VIVO; LENGTH; STRESS; CANCER; CELLS; AGE
Addresses: Monaghan
P (reprint author), Univ Glasgow, Div Environm & Evolutionary Biol,
Inst Biomed & Life Sci, Graham Kerr Bldg, Glasgow, Lanark G12 8QQ
Scotland
Univ Glasgow, Div Environm & Evolutionary Biol, Inst Biomed &
Life Sci, Glasgow, Lanark G12 8QQ Scotland
Swarthmore Coll, Dept Biol, Swarthmore, PA 19081 USA
Publisher: ELSEVIER
SCIENCE LONDON, 84 THEOBALDS RD, LONDON WC1X 8RR, ENGLAND
Subject Category: ECOLOGY;
EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY; GENETICS & HEREDITY
IDS Number: 005HU
ISSN: 0169-5347
