INVESTIGATION OF TELOMERE DYNAMICS IN CELLULAR SENESCENCE AND AGING

Abstract

Telomeres are essential in ensuring chromosomal stability and have been largely acknowledged as control regulators of cell aging/senescence. Telomere shortening with each cell division can serve as a biological clock, ultimately causing the activation of DNA damage responses and irreversible cell cycle arrest. The aim of the study is to examine telomere shortening dynamics and the molecular processes that control telomeres maintenance in cellular senescence and aging. This was done through integrative method that incorporates experimental observations and computational analysis, which involves assessment of telomere length, gene expression of telomere-associated factors, and senescence markers. The findings indicate that there is a substantial reduction in telomere length of old cells with the expression of relevant regulatory genes like telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT), components of the shelterin complex, and cell cycle inhibitors like p53 and p21 altered. Moreover, considerable associations were noted between telomere loss, the activation of DNA damage pathways and enhanced senescence-associated phenotypes. These results demonstrate the critical importance of telomere dynamics in determining the cellular aging and reinforce their importance as age-related disease biomarkers. All in all, this research can be highly informative about the processes that connect the telomere dysfunction and senescence and offers possible therapeutic areas of focus to help advance healthy aging and alleviate degenerative disorders.