Larissa Lipskaia, Marielle Breau, Christelle Cayrou, Dmitri Churikov, Laura Braud, Juliette Jacquet, Emmanuelle Born, Charles Fouillade, Sandra Curras-Alonso, Serge Bauwens, Frederic Jourquin, Frederic Fiore, Rémy Castellano, Emmanuelle Josselin, Carlota Sánchez-Ferrer, Giovanna Giovinazzo, Christophe Lachaud, Eric Gilson, Ignacio Flores, Arturo Londono-Vallejo, Serge Adnot, Vincent Géli
Lung diseases develop when telomeres shorten beyond a critical point. We constructed a mouse model in which the catalytic subunit of telomerase (mTert), or its catalytically inactive form (mTertCI ), is expressed from the p21Cdkn1a locus. Expression of either TERT or TERTCI reduces global p21 levels in the lungs of aged mice, highlighting TERT non-canonical function. However, only TERT reduces accumulation of very short telomeres, oxidative damage, endothelial cell (ECs) senescence and senile emphysema in aged mice...
February 29, 2024: EMBO Reports