ROS & Telomerase & Catalase Baste on 01 Aug 2008 03:41 am
Telomerase Deficiency Causes Redox-Imbalance
Today’s post is a supplement to the list of recent papers on telomeres/telomerase Chris summarized over at Ouroboros a few days ago.
The article by Perez-Rivero et al. deals with the consequences of telomerase deficiency. Although aging as a parameter has not been assessed the outcome of the study sheds further light on the importance of telomerase in cell physiology, especially the regulation of oxidative stress:
“Comparison with wild type (WT) mouse emryonic fibroblasts (MEF) showed that mice lacking telomerase activity (Terc-/-) MEF had greater oxidant damage, showing higher superoxide anion and hydrogen peroxide production and lower catalase activity. Restoration of telomerase activity in Terc-/- MEF increased catalase expression and activity. TGF-β1 and collagen type IV levels were higher in Terc-/- than in WT MEF. TGF-β1 promoter activity decreased when Terc-/- MEF were incubated with exogenous catalase, suggesting that catalase deficiency is the cause of the TGF-β1 increase. Similar results were obtained in vivo.”