Telomerase Activation: Is it a key to unlocking the aging puzzle?

Editor's Notes

1. The topic is “Telomerase Activation: The Key to Unlocking the Aging Puzzle”
2. As we all know in 2009 the Nobel prize in medicine was awarded to the 3 scientists who discovered the function of telomeres and telomerase. Since then more scientific and popular articles have been published. More and more people who want to extend their health and life span started paying attention to the Telomere Biology. How important is telomere science? Well, Telomeres are considered the most important sequences of DNA because they protect the integrity of chromosomes. Recent study by the scientists at Harvard Medical School shows telomere shortening is the root cause of cellular aging and mitochondrial degradation. More and more studies showed that Age related decline, dysfunction, and a shortened lifespan are all related to telomere shortening.
3. In the center of each cell is the nucleus where all our genetic material is located. Inside each nucleus there are 23 pairs of chromosomes (23 from your mother and 23 from your father) Located at both ends of each chromosome are the telomeres.
4. Next, let’s see how cellular aging is related with telomeres. In 1961 a young scientist Leonard Hayflick discovered that cells could only divide a certain number of times. After about 40 to 60 times, cell division stops, cells “senesce” and die soon thereafter. There was obviously some sort of cellular clock ticking away, but Hayflick had no idea what it was. 29 years after Hayflick limit was discovered, In 1990 Dr. Calvine Harley and his team solved the mystery of “ Hayflick Limit ” . They showed that telomere shortening was directly linked to cell aging. They had proven that shortening telomeres resulted in cell death!
5. Now let’s take a look how telomere length is related with cellular aging There are about 100 trillion cells in a human body. However there are only 2 basic types of cells. GERM cells and SOMATIC cells. (GERM cells are our reproductive cells: EGGS and SPERM. Eggs are unusual since they don’t divide after birth, but sperm are continually generated so they have telomerase turned on all the time and their telomeres never get short. In fact, older men have slightly longer telomeres than young men.) More than 99% of the cells are Somatic cells. (Each somatic cell contains the full complement of chromosomes. Somatic cells make up the organs and structures of the body. They are the body’s primary working units, responsible for carrying out the myriad functions of metabolism that support life. Though similar in structure and function, somatic cells are broadly diverse in their activities and specializations. ) (The telomerase gene in somatic cells is turned off most of the time and telomeres shorten with age. We can pass on the genes in our germ cells to our children, but when our body (scientifically referred to as the “soma”) dies, all of the genetic material in those cells dies also. It is somatic cells that we are talking about when we talk about normal human aging.
6. This concept is indicated in this paragraph.
7. This slide shows telomeres getting shorter with each cell division. When telomeres get too short cells can no longer divide and they become senescent and die.
8. Here is a schematic showing the concept of telomere shortening.
9. Short telomeres can cause different kinds of health problems. The following two slides are the findings from a few scientific literatures. 11 times is statistically huge!
10. More published articles talked about the negative impact of short telomeres on human health.
11. So, What Can Be Done To Keep Telomeres Long? One options is to keep a healthy lifestyle: balanced nutrition, exercise, avoid stress, don’t smoke, and so on. These things are all important. However, this can only slow down the rate of telomere loss/shortening. To actually elongate telomeres, the enzyme telomerase must be activated.
12. What is telomerase? By definition:
13. This image shows telomerase is adding DNA repeats (TTAGGG ) onto the telomeric ends of the chromosomes.
14. Bottom Line: Telomerase protects cells from senescence and death. 
15. This graph shows with telomerase cell can overcome the Hayflick Limit and extend cell life span. The solid lines on the lower portion of the graph show what happens to cells that have no telomerase. They stop dividing when they reach the Hayflick Limit.   The upper lines show cells that have telomerase. They overcome the Hayflick Limit and continue to divide. Telomerized cells will continue to live for as long as telomerase is present.
16. These two mice show what a difference telomerase can make!
17. Recent publication by Harvard researchers Show First Age Reversal in a Mammal through telomerase activation.
18. Several other publications indicated broad potential for tissue system regneration through telomerase activation.
19. The first telomerase activator was commercialized to the public in the US in 2007, it is trade marked TA65.
20. The data accumulated from the subjects taken this telomerase activator for 12 months shows the following.
21. These graphs show some of the results of a double blind, placebo controlled study in 2005. Notice that we found a significant improvement in male sexual function compared to men on placebo. We continue to receive reports from current clients confirming this result. While improvement in immune function is more important from a medical standpoint, it is sexual function that concerns most men who seek out anti-aging doctors.
22. Recent publication by Dr. Blasco at Univ of Spain shows this telomerase activator elongates short telomeres and increase healthspan of old mice without increasing cancer incidence.
23. From the published results on both animal and human tests regarding TA65.