Telomere length is paternally inherited and is associated with parental lifespan (original) (raw)
Related papers
Heritability of telomere length in a study of long-lived families
Neurobiology of Aging, 2015
Chromosomal telomere length shortens with repeated cell divisions. Human leukocyte DNA telomere length (LTL) determined has been shown to shorten during aging. LTL shortening has correlated with decreased longevity, dementia, and other age-associated processes. Since LTL varies widely between individuals in a given age group, it has been hypothesized to be a marker of biological aging. However, the principal basis for the variation of human LTL has not been established, although various studies have reported heritability. Here we use a family-based study of longevity to study heritability of LTL in 3037 individuals. We show that LTL is shorter in older
European Journal of Human Genetics, 2013
Telomere length (TL) has been associated with aging and mortality, but individual differences are also influenced by genetic factors, with previous studies reporting heritability estimates ranging from 34 to 82%. Here we investigate the heritability, mode of inheritance and the influence of parental age at birth on TL in six large, independent cohort studies with a total of 19 713 participants. The meta-analysis estimate of TL heritability was 0.70 (95% CI 0.64-0.76) and is based on a pattern of results that is highly similar for twins and other family members. We observed a stronger mother-offspring (r ¼ 0.42; P-value ¼ 3.60 Â 10 À61 ) than father-offspring correlation (r ¼ 0.33; P-value ¼ 7.01 Â 10 À5 ), and a significant positive association with paternal age at offspring birth (b ¼ 0.005; P-value ¼ 7.01 Â 10 À5 ). Interestingly, a significant and quite substantial correlation in TL between spouses (r ¼ 0.25; P-value ¼ 2.82 Â 10 À30 ) was seen, which appeared stronger in older spouse pairs (mean age Z55 years; r ¼ 0.31; P-value ¼ 4.27 Â 10 À23 ) than in younger pairs (mean ageo55 years; r ¼ 0.20; P-value ¼ 3.24 Â 10 À10 ). In summary, we find a high and very consistent heritability estimate for TL, evidence for a maternal inheritance component and a positive association with paternal age.
Paternal age at birth is an important determinant of offspring telomere length
Human Molecular Genetics, 2007
Although evidence supports the function of telomere length (TL) as a marker for biological aging, no major determinants of TL are known besides inheritance, age and gender. Here we validate and, more importantly, assess the impact of paternal age at birth as a determinant for the offspring's peripheral blood leukocyte TL within the Asklepios study population. Telomere restriction fragment length and paternal age information were available for 2433 volunteers (1176 men and 1257 women) aged~35 -55 years old. Paternal age at birth was positively associated with offspring TL (offspring age and gender adjusted, P < 10 ). The increase in TL was estimated at 17 base pairs for each supplemental year at birth and was not statistically different between male and female offspring. The effect size of paternal age outweighed the classical TL determinant gender by a factor of 2, demonstrating the large impact. Maternal age at birth was not independently associated with offspring TL. The peculiar interaction between paternal age at birth and inheritance might explain a large part of the genetic component of TL variance on a population level. This finding also provides further proof for the theory that TL is not completely reset in the zygote. Furthermore, as paternal age is subject to demographic evolution, its association with TL might have a substantial impact on the results and comparability of TL within and between epidemiological studies. In conclusion, paternal age is an important determinant for TL, with substantial consequences for future studies.
Paternal age is positively linked to telomere length of children
Aging Cell, 2005
Telomere length is linked to age-associated diseases, with shorter telomeres in blood associated with an increased probability of mortality from infection or heart disease. Little is known about how human telomere length is regulated despite convincing data from twins that telomere length is largely heritable, uniform in various tissues during development until birth and variable between individuals. As sperm cells show increasing telomere length with age, we investigated whether age of fathers at conception correlated with telomere length of their offspring. Telomere length in blood from 125 random subjects was shown to be positively associated with paternal age (+22 bp yr − − − − 1 , 95% confidence interval 5.2-38.3, P = 0.010), and paternal age was calculated to affect telomere length by up to 20% of average telomere length per generation. Males lose telomeric sequence faster than females (31 bp yr − − − − 1 , 17.6-43.8, P < 0.0001 vs. 14 bp yr − − − − 1 , 3.5-24.8, P < 0.01) and the rate of telomere loss slows throughout the human lifespan. These data indicate that paternal age plays a role in the vertical transmission of telomere length and may contribute significantly to the variability of telomere length seen in the human population, particularly if effects are cumulative through generations.
Determinant of Offspring Telomere Length
2007
Although evidence supports the function of telomere length (TL) as a marker for biological aging, no major determinants of TL are known besides inheritance, age and gender. Here we validate and, more importantly, assess the impact of paternal age at birth as a determinant for the offspring's peripheral blood leukocyte TL within the Asklepios study population. Telomere restriction fragment length and paternal age information were available for 2433 volunteers (1176 men and 1257 women) aged~35-55 years old. Paternal age at birth was positively associated with offspring TL (offspring age and gender adjusted, P < 10 (214)). The increase in TL was estimated at 17 base pairs for each supplemental year at birth and was not statistically different between male and female offspring. The effect size of paternal age outweighed the classical TL determinant gender by a factor of 2, demonstrating the large impact. Maternal age at birth was not independently associated with offspring TL. The peculiar interaction between paternal age at birth and inheritance might explain a large part of the genetic component of TL variance on a population level. This finding also provides further proof for the theory that TL is not completely reset in the zygote. Furthermore, as paternal age is subject to demographic evolution, its association with TL might have a substantial impact on the results and comparability of TL within and between epidemiological studies. In conclusion, paternal age is an important determinant for TL, with substantial consequences for future studies.
Telomere length (TL) declines with age in most human tissues, and shorter TL appears to accelerate senescence. By contrast, men's sperm TL is positively correlated with age. Correspondingly, in humans, older paternal age at conception (PAC) predicts longer offspring TL. We have hypothesized that this PAC effect could persist across multiple generations, and thereby contribute to a transgenerational genetic plasticity that increases expenditures on somatic maintenance as the average age at reproduction is delayed within a lineage. Here, we examine TL data from 3282 humans together with PAC data across four generations. In this sample, the PAC effect is detectable in children and grandchildren. The PAC effect is transmitted through the matriline and patriline with similar strength and is characterized by a generational decay. PACs of more distant male ancestors were not significant predictors, although statistical power was limited in these analyses. Sensitivity analyses suggest that the PAC effect is linear, not moderated by offspring age, or maternal age, and is robust to controls for income, urbanicity and ancestry. These findings show that TL reflects the age at the reproduction of recent male matrilineal and patrilineal ancestors, with an effect that decays across generations.
Aging Cell, 2015
Telomere length shortens with aging, and short telomeres have been linked to a wide variety of pathologies. Previous studies suggested a discrepancy in age-associated telomere shortening rate estimated by cross-sectional studies versus the rate measured in longitudinal studies, indicating a potential bias in crosssectional estimates. Intergenerational changes in initial telomere length, such as that predicted by the previously described effect of a father's age at birth of his offspring (FAB), could explain the discrepancy in shortening rate measurements. We evaluated whether changes occur in initial telomere length over multiple generations in three large datasets and identified paternal birth year (PBY) as a variable that reconciles the difference between longitudinal and cross-sectional measurements. We also clarify the association between FAB and offspring telomere length, demonstrating that this effect is substantially larger than reported in the past. These results indicate the presence of a downward secular trend in telomere length at birth over generational time with potential public health implications.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2012
Telomeres are repeating DNA sequences at the ends of chromosomes that protect and buffer genes from nucleotide loss as cells divide. Telomere length (TL) shortens with age in most proliferating tissues, limiting cell division and thereby contributing to senescence. However, TL increases with age in sperm, and, correspondingly, offspring of older fathers inherit longer telomeres. Using data and samples from a longitudinal study from the Philippines, we first replicate the finding that paternal age at birth is associated with longer TL in offspring (n = 2,023, P = 1.84 × 10 −6 ). We then show that this association of paternal age with offspring TL is cumulative across multiple generations: in this sample, grandchildren of older paternal grandfathers at the birth of fathers have longer telomeres (n = 234, P = 0.038), independent of, and additive to, the association of their father's age at birth with TL. The lengthening of telomeres predicted by each year that the father's or grandfather's reproduction are delayed is equal to the yearly shortening of TL seen in middle-age to elderly women in this sample, pointing to potentially important impacts on health and the pace of senescent decline in tissues and systems that are cell-replication dependent. This finding suggests a mechanism by which humans could extend late-life function as average age at reproduction is delayed within a lineage. adaptation | epigenetics | evolution | parental effects | transgenerational plasticity T elomeres are repeating DNA sequences at the ends of chromosomes that protect and buffer genes from nucleotide loss as cells divide (1). In many tissues, telomere lengths (TL) are shortened by cellular proliferation, and as a result TL tends to decline with age (2-5). As cell replication generally requires a minimal TL, shortened TL is thought to contribute to senescence (6). Consistent with this, elderly persons with shorter telomeres (in blood) for their age have reduced survival (7-13).
Association between telomere length in blood and mortality in people aged 60 years or older
2003
During normal ageing, the gradual loss of telomeric DNA in dividing somatic cells can contribute to replicative senescence, apoptosis, or neoplastic transformation. In the genetic disorder dyskeratosis congenita, telomere shortening is accelerated, and patients have premature onset of many age-related diseases and early death. We aimed to assess an association between telomere length and mortality in 143 normal unrelated individuals over the age of 60 years. Those with shorter telomeres in blood DNA had poorer survival, attributable in part to a 3·18-fold higher mortality rate from heart disease (95% CI 1 . 36-7·45, p=0·0079), and an 8·54-fold higher mortality rate from infectious disease (1·52-47·9, p=0·015). These results lend support to the hypothesis that telomere shortening in human beings contributes to mortality in many age-related diseases.