Nedime Serakinci

Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus Presidency, Turkey

Title: Telomere profiles in relation to ageing diseases and cancer

Biography

Nedime Serakinci’s research is focussed on telomere-telomerase biology, cancer and stem cell biology in connection with aging.  Her research expertise is in telomerase-immortalized mesenchymal stem cells and their use in gene therapy and development of tissue models for drug discovery. Prof. Serakinci’s research program is focused on the molecular, cellular and developmental biology of the adult mesenchymal stem cell and aging diseases. The principle aim of the program is to develop strategic and technical approaches necessary to acquire an understanding of the mechanisms underlying stem cell self-renewal and differentiation processes. Ultimately the objective is to provide rational scientific foundations for the application of cell and gene-based therapies to the treatment of human disease and injury.

Abstract

During aging, telomeres shorten due to cell turnover. Telomere length is mainly maintained by telomerase. This enzyme is present in the embryonic stem cells in high concentrations and declines with age. It is still unclear to what extend there is telomerase in adult stem cells, but considering these are the founder cells to the cells of the all tissues in a body, understanding the telomere dynamics and expression of telomerase in adult stem cells is very important.

Telomere length has been implicated as one of the markers for aging related diseased and neoplastic transformation in both in vivo and in vitro studies. During carcinogenesis telomeres shorten due to high cell turnover and repeats are added by active telomerase or alternative lengthening of telomeres (ALT).  This gradual shortening is replication driven and does not necessarily explain the presence of ultra-short telomeres. Ultra-short telomeres are observed when there is a sudden shortening in telomeres not related with cell division and may arise from breaks in telomeres due to oxidative damage and replication slippage. Telomere have important functions but do shorten through-out life, ultimately causing cellular problems. Telomere profiling may  be use as  an important clinical parameter. Telomere science showed that single or a small group of ultra-short telomeres are more influential in senescence associated disease progression rather than shortening that reflected as average telomere length, therefore it is important to identify the presence and load of ultra-short telomeres in diseases.