Telomere maintenance in health and disease
Description: Telomeric DNA at the ends of chromosomes is difficult to replicate, particularly susceptible to DNA damage and several DNA repair pathways are suppressed. Furthermore, telomeres erode with every round of DNA replication in the absence of telomerase, which is repressed in most somatic cells of the human body. Short telomeres induce a permanent cell cycle arrest leading to cellular senescence. This mechanism limits the lifespan and tumoriogenic potential of precancerous human cells that have lost growth control. On the other hand, telomere shortening during aging may cause age-related tissue damage. Premature telomere shortening occurs in telomere syndromes in which patients carry defects in telomerase or telomere proteins. To understand how the telomeric chromatin is maintained in health and how it changes in disease our laboratory is determining telomeric protein composition and function in normal human cells and various disease models.
Amount: CHF 885,600
Funding type: research
Funder scheme: Project funding
Start date: 2016-04-01
End date: 2019-03-31
Investigator: Lingner, Joachim
Institution: EPF Lausanne – EPFL
Funded outputs count: 3
Funder award ID: 166675
OpenAlex ID: G4873229059