Telomere length a biomarker for ageing

Abstract

Telomeres are nucleoprotein structure located at the end of chromosomes that plays a major role in protecting it. Telomeres shorten with each round of cell division and this mechanism limits proliferation of human cells to a finite number of cell divisions by inducing replicative senescence, differentiation, or apoptosis. Moreover, shortening of telomere during ageing and smoking is associated with increasing cardiovascular disease risk as we know smoking increases the thickening of blood. In this review we summarize our current knowledge on the role of telomeres shortening in humans by comparative analysis of TL by using blood samples of different person with different age groups, smokers and non-smokers & sports and non-sports of same ages with the help of different techniques like PCR, RT-PCR and Southern Blotting.