Beauty Forum Feb23 - Flipbook - Page 24
Scientists Discover New
“These tests also
could provide a
measure of
‘telomere health,’
because we know
telomeres shorten
with age.”
Once thought incapable of encoding proteins
due to their simple monotonous repetitions of
DNA, tiny telomeres at the tips of our
chromosomes seem to hold a potent biological
function that’s potentially relevant to our
understanding of cancer and aging.
Proceedings of the National Academy of
Science, UNC School of Medicine researchers
Taghreed Al-Turki, PhD, and Jack Griffith, PhD,
made the stunning discovery that telomeres
contain genetic information to produce two small
proteins, one of which they found is elevated in
some human cancer cells, as well as cells from
patients suffering from telomere-related defects.
“Based on our research, we think simple blood
tests for these proteins could provide a valuable
screen for certain cancers and other human
diseases,” said Griffith, the Kenan Distinguished
Professor of Microbiology and Immunology and
member of the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive
Cancer Center.
“These tests also could provide a measure of
‘telomere health,’ because we know telomeres
shorten with age.”
Telomeres contain a unique DNA sequence
consisting of endless repeats of TTAGGG bases
that somehow inhibit chromosomes from
sticking to each other. Two decades ago, the
Griffith laboratory showed that the end of a
telomere's DNA loops back on itself to form a
tiny circle, thus hiding the end and blocking
chromosome-to-chromosome fusions. When
cells divide, telomeres shorten, eventually
becoming so short that the cell can no longer
divide properly, leading to cell death.
Scientist first identified telomeres about 80 years
ago, and because of their monotonous
sequence, the established dogma in the field
held that telomeres could not encode for any
proteins, let alone ones with potent biological
function.
