Telomere length measurement by qPCR – summary of critical factors and recommendations for assay design

Telomeres are the protective complexes at the ends of eukaryotic chromosomes, consisting of short tandem DNA repeats and their associated proteins. Telomere maintenance is not only essential as a fundamental cellular process; it is also etiologically linked to a range of different human diseases (Stanley and Armanios, 2015). More importantly, recent works have explored telomere length as a biomarker for both the cumulative effects of environmental exposures and life experiences as well as future disease susceptibility (Blackburn et al., 2015; De Meyer et al., 2018; Haycock et al., 2017; Ridout et al., 2018; Willis et al., 2018).

Source: Psychoneuroendocrinology - October 10, 2018 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Jue Lin, Dana Smith, Kyle Esteves, Stacy Drury Source Type: research