Telomere length is paternally inherited and is associated with parental lifespan

Telomere length (TL) is emerging as a biomarker for aging and survival. To evaluate factors influencing this trait, we measured TL in a large homogeneous population, estimated the heritability (h²), and tested for parental effects on TL variation. Our sample included 356 men and 551 women, aged 18-9...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS 2007-07, Vol.104 (29), p.12135-12139
Main Authors: Njajou, Omer T, Cawthon, Richard M, Damcott, Coleen M, Wu, Shih-Hsuan, Ott, Sandy, Garant, Michael J, Blackburn, Elizabeth H, Mitchell, Braxton D, Shuldiner, Alan R, Hsueh, Wen-Chi
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adult
Age
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Biological Sciences
Chromosomes
Correlations
Female
Gender differences
Genetic inheritance
Genetic variation
Genetics
Human genetics
Humans
Inheritance Patterns - genetics
Leukocytes
Longevity - genetics
Male
Medical genetics
Men
Middle Aged
Minority & ethnic groups
Osteoporosis
Statistical variance
Telomere - metabolism
Telomeres
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Summary:Telomere length (TL) is emerging as a biomarker for aging and survival. To evaluate factors influencing this trait, we measured TL in a large homogeneous population, estimated the heritability (h²), and tested for parental effects on TL variation. Our sample included 356 men and 551 women, aged 18-92 years, from large Amish families. Mean TL in leukocytes was measured by quantitative PCR (mean: 6,198 ± 1,696 bp). The h² of TL was 0.44 ± 0.06 (P < 0.001), after adjusting for age, sex, and TL assay batch. As expected, TL was negatively correlated with age (r = -0.40; P < 0.001). There was no significant difference in TL between men and women, consistent with our previous findings that Amish men lived as long as Amish women. There was a stronger and positive correlation and association between TL in the offspring and paternal TL (r = 0.46, P < 0.001; β = 0.22, P = 0.006) than offspring and maternal TL (r = 0.18, P = 0.04; β = -0.02, P = 0.4). Furthermore, we observed a positive correlation and association between daughter's TL and paternal lifespan (r = 0.20, P < 0.001; β = 0.21, P = 0.04), but not between daughter's TL and maternal lifespan (r = -0.01, β = 0.04; both P = not significant). Our data, which are based on one of the largest family studies of human TL, support a link between TL and aging and lifespan and suggest a strong genetic influence, possibly via an imprinting mechanism, on TL regulation.
ISSN:0027-8424
1091-6490
DOI:10.1073/pnas.0702703104