The impact of diet-protein content in telomerase regulation

Abstract

[eng] Higher telomere length (TL) is associated with longevity, while telomeres shortening are related with some non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as cancer or cardiovascular disease, and with higher risk of mortality. Telomerase RNA component (TERC) and peroxiredoxin-1 (PRDX1) are involved in the regulation of Telomerase, an enzyme capable to extent TL. Diet could play a role in telomere shortening by regulation of cellular oxidative stress and by modulate the expression of certain genes involved in Telomerase Activity (TA) as presented before. This paper study how low-protein diet (LPD) and leucine deprivation (LEU(-)) in tandem with fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21) can affect the relative gene expression of Terc and Prdx1 in mice. Murines with and without FGF21 were fed with LPD and LEU(-), with corresponding Control Diet (CD) group for each one. Relative liver mRNA levels of Terc and Prdx1 were determined by RT-qPCR. Results suggested that diet-protein content and FGF21 could impact on Terc and Prdx1 expression by modulating oxidative stress of the cell. LPD synergized with FGF21 to increase Prdx1 mRNA levels (p=0.00096), but inconsistency and the contradictions of the findings did not allow to suggest accurate conclusions and for that reason further investigations with better designs are needed.