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Short telomeres compromise ?-cell signaling and survival.

ABSTRACT: The genetic factors that underlie the increasing incidence of diabetes with age are poorly understood. We examined whether telomere length, which is inherited and known to shorten with age, plays a role in the age-dependent increased incidence of diabetes. We show that in mice with short telomeres, insulin secretion is impaired and leads to glucose intolerance despite the presence of an intact ?-cell mass. In ex vivo studies, short telomeres induced cell-autonomous defects in ?-cells including reduced mitochondrial membrane hyperpolarization and Ca(2+) influx which limited insulin release. To examine the mechanism, we looked for evidence of apoptosis but found no baseline increase in ?-cells with short telomeres. However, there was evidence of all the hallmarks of senescence including slower proliferation of ?-cells and accumulation of p16(INK4a). Specifically, we identified gene expression changes in pathways which are essential for Ca(2+)-mediated exocytosis. We also show that telomere length is additive to the damaging effect of endoplasmic reticulum stress which occurs in the late stages of type 2 diabetes. This additive effect manifests as more severe hyperglycemia in Akita mice with short telomeres which had a profound loss of ?-cell mass and increased ?-cell apoptosis. Our data indicate that short telomeres can affect ?-cell metabolism even in the presence of intact ?-cell number, thus identifying a novel mechanism of telomere-mediated disease. They implicate telomere length as a determinant of ?-cell function and diabetes pathogenesis.

SUBMITTER: Guo N

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3053388 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Short telomeres compromise β-cell signaling and survival.

Guo Nini N Parry Erin M EM Li Luo-Sheng LS Kembou Frant F Lauder Naudia N Hussain Mehboob A MA Berggren Per-Olof PO Armanios Mary M

PloS one 20110310 3

The genetic factors that underlie the increasing incidence of diabetes with age are poorly understood. We examined whether telomere length, which is inherited and known to shorten with age, plays a role in the age-dependent increased incidence of diabetes. We show that in mice with short telomeres, insulin secretion is impaired and leads to glucose intolerance despite the presence of an intact β-cell mass. In ex vivo studies, short telomeres induced cell-autonomous defects in β-cells including r ...[more]

PMID: 21423765

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Project description:The slow pace of global vaccination and the rapid emergence of SARS-CoV-2 variants suggest recurrent waves of COVID-19 in coming years. Therefore, understanding why deaths from COVID-19 are highly concentrated among older adults is essential for global health. Severe COVID-19 T-cell lymphopenia is more common among older adults, and it entails poor prognosis. Much about the primary etiology of this form of lymphopenia remains unknown, but regardless of its causes, offsetting the decline in T-cell count during SARS-CoV-2 infection demands fast and massive T-cell clonal expansion, which is telomere length (TL)-dependent. We have built a model that captures the effect of age-dependent TL shortening in hematopoietic cells and its effect on T-cell clonal expansion capacity. The model shows that an individual with average hematopoietic cell TL (HCTL) at age twenty years maintains maximal T-cell clonal expansion capacity until the 6th decade of life when this capacity plummets by more than 90% over the next ten years. The collapse coincides with the steep increase in COVID-19 mortality with age. HCTL metrics may thus explain the vulnerability of older adults to COVID-19. That said, the wide inter-individual variation in HCTL across the general population means that some younger adults with inherently short HCTL might be at risk of severe COVID-19 lymphopenia and mortality from the disease.Significance statementDeclining immunity with advancing age is a general explanation for the increased mortality from COVID-19 among older adults. This mortality far exceeds that from viral illnesses such as the seasonal influenza, and it thus requires specific explanations. One of these might be diminished ability with age to offset the development of severe T-cell lymphopenia (a low T-cell count in the blood) that often complicates COVID-19. We constructed a model showing that age-dependent shortening of telomeres might constrain the ability of T-cells of some older COVID-19 patients to undertake the massive proliferation required to clear the virus that causes the infection. The model predicts that individuals with short telomeres, principally seniors, might be at a higher risk of death from COVID-19.

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Short telomeres compromise ?-cell signaling and survival.

Publications

Short telomeres compromise β-cell signaling and survival.

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