@article {1192, title = {Genome-wide association identifies OBFC1 as a locus involved in human leukocyte telomere biology.}, journal = {Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A}, volume = {107}, year = {2010}, month = {2010 May 18}, pages = {9293-8}, abstract = {

Telomeres are engaged in a host of cellular functions, and their length is regulated by multiple genes. Telomere shortening, in the course of somatic cell replication, ultimately leads to replicative senescence. In humans, rare mutations in genes that regulate telomere length have been identified in monogenic diseases such as dyskeratosis congenita and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, which are associated with shortened leukocyte telomere length (LTL) and increased risk for aplastic anemia. Shortened LTL is observed in a host of aging-related complex genetic diseases and is associated with diminished survival in the elderly. We report results of a genome-wide association study of LTL in a consortium of four observational studies (n = 3,417 participants with LTL and genome-wide genotyping). SNPs in the regions of the oligonucleotide/oligosaccharide-binding folds containing one gene (OBFC1; rs4387287; P = 3.9 x 10(-9)) and chemokine (C-X-C motif) receptor 4 gene (CXCR4; rs4452212; P = 2.9 x 10(-8)) were associated with LTL at a genome-wide significance level (P < 5 x 10(-8)). We attempted replication of the top SNPs at these loci through de novo genotyping of 1,893 additional individuals and in silico lookup in another observational study (n = 2,876), and we confirmed the association findings for OBFC1 but not CXCR4. In addition, we confirmed the telomerase RNA component (TERC) as a gene associated with LTL (P = 1.1 x 10(-5)). The identification of OBFC1 through genome-wide association as a locus for interindividual variation in LTL in the general population advances the understanding of telomere biology in humans and may provide insights into aging-related disorders linked to altered LTL dynamics.

}, keywords = {Cohort Studies, Genome-Wide Association Study, Genotype, Humans, Leukocytes, Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide, Receptors, CXCR4, Telomere, Telomere-Binding Proteins}, issn = {1091-6490}, doi = {10.1073/pnas.0911494107}, author = {Levy, Daniel and Neuhausen, Susan L and Hunt, Steven C and Kimura, Masayuki and Hwang, Shih-Jen and Chen, Wei and Bis, Joshua C and Fitzpatrick, Annette L and Smith, Erin and Johnson, Andrew D and Gardner, Jeffrey P and Srinivasan, Sathanur R and Schork, Nicholas and Rotter, Jerome I and Herbig, Utz and Psaty, Bruce M and Sastrasinh, Malinee and Murray, Sarah S and Vasan, Ramachandran S and Province, Michael A and Glazer, Nicole L and Lu, Xiaobin and Cao, Xiaojian and Kronmal, Richard and Mangino, Massimo and Soranzo, Nicole and Spector, Tim D and Berenson, Gerald S and Aviv, Abraham} } @article {6090, title = {Genome-wide meta-analysis points to CTC1 and ZNF676 as genes regulating telomere homeostasis in humans.}, journal = {Hum Mol Genet}, volume = {21}, year = {2012}, month = {2012 Dec 15}, pages = {5385-94}, abstract = {

Leukocyte telomere length (LTL) is associated with a number of common age-related diseases and is a heritable trait. Previous genome-wide association studies (GWASs) identified two loci on chromosomes 3q26.2 (TERC) and 10q24.33 (OBFC1) that are associated with the inter-individual LTL variation. We performed a meta-analysis of 9190 individuals from six independent GWAS and validated our findings in 2226 individuals from four additional studies. We confirmed previously reported associations with OBFC1 (rs9419958 P = 9.1 {\texttimes} 10(-11)) and with the telomerase RNA component TERC (rs1317082, P = 1.1 {\texttimes} 10(-8)). We also identified two novel genomic regions associated with LTL variation that map near a conserved telomere maintenance complex component 1 (CTC1; rs3027234, P = 3.6 {\texttimes} 10(-8)) on chromosome17p13.1 and zinc finger protein 676 (ZNF676; rs412658, P = 3.3 {\texttimes} 10(-8)) on 19p12. The minor allele of rs3027234 was associated with both shorter LTL and lower expression of CTC1. Our findings are consistent with the recent observations that point mutations in CTC1 cause short telomeres in both Arabidopsis and humans affected by a rare Mendelian syndrome. Overall, our results provide novel insights into the genetic architecture of inter-individual LTL variation in the general population.

}, keywords = {Genome-Wide Association Study, Humans, Kruppel-Like Transcription Factors, Telomere, Telomere Homeostasis, Telomere-Binding Proteins}, issn = {1460-2083}, doi = {10.1093/hmg/dds382}, author = {Mangino, Massimo and Hwang, Shih-Jen and Spector, Timothy D and Hunt, Steven C and Kimura, Masayuki and Fitzpatrick, Annette L and Christiansen, Lene and Petersen, Inge and Elbers, Clara C and Harris, Tamara and Chen, Wei and Srinivasan, Sathanur R and Kark, Jeremy D and Benetos, Athanase and El Shamieh, Said and Visvikis-Siest, Sophie and Christensen, Kaare and Berenson, Gerald S and Valdes, Ana M and Vi{\~n}uela, Ana and Garcia, Melissa and Arnett, Donna K and Broeckel, Ulrich and Province, Michael A and Pankow, James S and Kammerer, Candace and Liu, Yongmei and Nalls, Michael and Tishkoff, Sarah and Thomas, Fridtjof and Ziv, Elad and Psaty, Bruce M and Bis, Joshua C and Rotter, Jerome I and Taylor, Kent D and Smith, Erin and Schork, Nicholas J and Levy, Daniel and Aviv, Abraham} } @article {6179, title = {Impact of ancestry and common genetic variants on QT interval in African Americans.}, journal = {Circ Cardiovasc Genet}, volume = {5}, year = {2012}, month = {2012 Dec}, pages = {647-55}, abstract = {

BACKGROUND: Ethnic differences in cardiac arrhythmia incidence have been reported, with a particularly high incidence of sudden cardiac death and low incidence of atrial fibrillation in individuals of African ancestry. We tested the hypotheses that African ancestry and common genetic variants are associated with prolonged duration of cardiac repolarization, a central pathophysiological determinant of arrhythmia, as measured by the electrocardiographic QT interval.

METHODS AND RESULTS: First, individual estimates of African and European ancestry were inferred from genome-wide single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) data in 7 population-based cohorts of African Americans (n=12,097) and regressed on measured QT interval from ECGs. Second, imputation was performed for 2.8 million SNPs, and a genome-wide association study of QT interval was performed in 10 cohorts (n=13,105). There was no evidence of association between genetic ancestry and QT interval (P=0.94). Genome-wide significant associations (P<2.5 {\texttimes} 10(-8)) were identified with SNPs at 2 loci, upstream of the genes NOS1AP (rs12143842, P=2 {\texttimes} 10(-15)) and ATP1B1 (rs1320976, P=2 {\texttimes} 10(-10)). The most significant SNP in NOS1AP was the same as the strongest SNP previously associated with QT interval in individuals of European ancestry. Low probability values (P<10(-5)) were observed for SNPs at several other loci previously identified in genome-wide association studies in individuals of European ancestry, including KCNQ1, KCNH2, LITAF, and PLN.

CONCLUSIONS: We observed no difference in duration of cardiac repolarization with global genetic indices of African American ancestry. In addition, our genome-wide association study extends the association of polymorphisms at several loci associated with repolarization in individuals of European ancestry to include individuals of African ancestry.

}, keywords = {Adult, African Americans, Aged, Electrocardiography, European Continental Ancestry Group, Female, Genealogy and Heraldry, Genetic Variation, Genome, Human, Genome-Wide Association Study, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide}, issn = {1942-3268}, doi = {10.1161/CIRCGENETICS.112.962787}, author = {Smith, J Gustav and Avery, Christy L and Evans, Daniel S and Nalls, Michael A and Meng, Yan A and Smith, Erin N and Palmer, Cameron and Tanaka, Toshiko and Mehra, Reena and Butler, Anne M and Young, Taylor and Buxbaum, Sarah G and Kerr, Kathleen F and Berenson, Gerald S and Schnabel, Renate B and Li, Guo and Ellinor, Patrick T and Magnani, Jared W and Chen, Wei and Bis, Joshua C and Curb, J David and Hsueh, Wen-Chi and Rotter, Jerome I and Liu, Yongmei and Newman, Anne B and Limacher, Marian C and North, Kari E and Reiner, Alexander P and Quibrera, P Miguel and Schork, Nicholas J and Singleton, Andrew B and Psaty, Bruce M and Soliman, Elsayed Z and Solomon, Allen J and Srinivasan, Sathanur R and Alonso, Alvaro and Wallace, Robert and Redline, Susan and Zhang, Zhu-Ming and Post, Wendy S and Zonderman, Alan B and Taylor, Herman A and Murray, Sarah S and Ferrucci, Luigi and Arking, Dan E and Evans, Michele K and Fox, Ervin R and Sotoodehnia, Nona and Heckbert, Susan R and Whitsel, Eric A and Newton-Cheh, Christopher} } @article {6084, title = {Novel loci associated with PR interval in a genome-wide association study of 10 African American cohorts.}, journal = {Circ Cardiovasc Genet}, volume = {5}, year = {2012}, month = {2012 Dec}, pages = {639-46}, abstract = {

BACKGROUND: The PR interval, as measured by the resting, standard 12-lead ECG, reflects the duration of atrial/atrioventricular nodal depolarization. Substantial evidence exists for a genetic contribution to PR, including genome-wide association studies that have identified common genetic variants at 9 loci influencing PR in populations of European and Asian descent. However, few studies have examined loci associated with PR in African Americans.

METHODS AND RESULTS: We present results from the largest genome-wide association study to date of PR in 13 415 adults of African descent from 10 cohorts. We tested for association between PR (ms) and ≈2.8 million genotyped and imputed single-nucleotide polymorphisms. Imputation was performed using HapMap 2 YRI and CEU panels. Study-specific results, adjusted for global ancestry and clinical correlates of PR, were meta-analyzed using the inverse variance method. Variation in genome-wide test statistic distributions was noted within studies (λ range: 0.9-1.1), although not after genomic control correction was applied to the overall meta-analysis (λ: 1.008). In addition to generalizing previously reported associations with MEIS1, SCN5A, ARHGAP24, CAV1, and TBX5 to African American populations at the genome-wide significance level (P<5.0 {\texttimes} 10(-8)), we also identified a novel locus: ITGA9, located in a region previously implicated in SCN5A expression. The 3p21 region harboring SCN5A also contained 2 additional independent secondary signals influencing PR (P<5.0 {\texttimes} 10(-8)).

CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates the ability to map novel loci in African Americans as well as the generalizability of loci associated with PR across populations of African, European, and Asian descent.

}, keywords = {Adult, African Americans, Cohort Studies, Electrocardiography, Female, Genetic Loci, Genome-Wide Association Study, Humans, Male, Meta-Analysis as Topic, Middle Aged, Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide}, issn = {1942-3268}, doi = {10.1161/CIRCGENETICS.112.963991}, author = {Butler, Anne M and Yin, Xiaoyan and Evans, Daniel S and Nalls, Michael A and Smith, Erin N and Tanaka, Toshiko and Li, Guo and Buxbaum, Sarah G and Whitsel, Eric A and Alonso, Alvaro and Arking, Dan E and Benjamin, Emelia J and Berenson, Gerald S and Bis, Josh C and Chen, Wei and Deo, Rajat and Ellinor, Patrick T and Heckbert, Susan R and Heiss, Gerardo and Hsueh, Wen-Chi and Keating, Brendan J and Kerr, Kathleen F and Li, Yun and Limacher, Marian C and Liu, Yongmei and Lubitz, Steven A and Marciante, Kristin D and Mehra, Reena and Meng, Yan A and Newman, Anne B and Newton-Cheh, Christopher and North, Kari E and Palmer, Cameron D and Psaty, Bruce M and Quibrera, P Miguel and Redline, Susan and Reiner, Alex P and Rotter, Jerome I and Schnabel, Renate B and Schork, Nicholas J and Singleton, Andrew B and Smith, J Gustav and Soliman, Elsayed Z and Srinivasan, Sathanur R and Zhang, Zhu-Ming and Zonderman, Alan B and Ferrucci, Luigi and Murray, Sarah S and Evans, Michele K and Sotoodehnia, Nona and Magnani, Jared W and Avery, Christy L} } @article {6246, title = {Gender and telomere length: systematic review and meta-analysis.}, journal = {Exp Gerontol}, volume = {51}, year = {2014}, month = {2014 Mar}, pages = {15-27}, abstract = {

BACKGROUND: It is widely believed that females have longer telomeres than males, although results from studies have been contradictory.

METHODS: We carried out a systematic review and meta-analyses to test the hypothesis that in humans, females have longer telomeres than males and that this association becomes stronger with increasing age. Searches were conducted in EMBASE and MEDLINE (by November 2009) and additional datasets were obtained from study investigators. Eligible observational studies measured telomeres for both females and males of any age, had a minimum sample size of 100 and included participants not part of a diseased group. We calculated summary estimates using random-effects meta-analyses. Heterogeneity between studies was investigated using sub-group analysis and meta-regression.

RESULTS: Meta-analyses from 36 cohorts (36,230 participants) showed that on average females had longer telomeres than males (standardised difference in telomere length between females and males 0.090, 95\% CI 0.015, 0.166; age-adjusted). There was little evidence that these associations varied by age group (p=1.00) or cell type (p=0.29). However, the size of this difference did vary by measurement methods, with only Southern blot but neither real-time PCR nor Flow-FISH showing a significant difference. This difference was not associated with random measurement error.

CONCLUSIONS: Telomere length is longer in females than males, although this difference was not universally found in studies that did not use Southern blot methods. Further research on explanations for the methodological differences is required.

}, keywords = {Adult, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Aging, Female, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Sex Factors, Telomere}, issn = {1873-6815}, doi = {10.1016/j.exger.2013.12.004}, author = {Gardner, Michael and Bann, David and Wiley, Laura and Cooper, Rachel and Hardy, Rebecca and Nitsch, Dorothea and Martin-Ruiz, Carmen and Shiels, Paul and Sayer, Avan Aihie and Barbieri, Michelangela and Bekaert, Sofie and Bischoff, Claus and Brooks-Wilson, Angela and Chen, Wei and Cooper, Cyrus and Christensen, Kaare and De Meyer, Tim and Deary, Ian and Der, Geoff and Diez Roux, Ana and Fitzpatrick, Annette and Hajat, Anjum and Halaschek-Wiener, Julius and Harris, Sarah and Hunt, Steven C and Jagger, Carol and Jeon, Hyo-Sung and Kaplan, Robert and Kimura, Masayuki and Lansdorp, Peter and Li, Changyong and Maeda, Toyoki and Mangino, Massimo and Nawrot, Tim S and Nilsson, Peter and Nordfjall, Katarina and Paolisso, Giuseppe and Ren, Fu and Riabowol, Karl and Robertson, Tony and Roos, Goran and Staessen, Jan A and Spector, Tim and Tang, Nelson and Unryn, Brad and van der Harst, Pim and Woo, Jean and Xing, Chao and Yadegarfar, Mohammad E and Park, Jae Yong and Young, Neal and Kuh, Diana and von Zglinicki, Thomas and Ben-Shlomo, Yoav} } @article {6368, title = {Gene-centric meta-analyses for central adiposity traits in up to 57 412 individuals of European descent confirm known loci and reveal several novel associations.}, journal = {Hum Mol Genet}, volume = {23}, year = {2014}, month = {2014 May 01}, pages = {2498-510}, abstract = {

Waist circumference (WC) and waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) are surrogate measures of central adiposity that are associated with adverse cardiovascular events, type 2 diabetes and cancer independent of body mass index (BMI). WC and WHR are highly heritable with multiple susceptibility loci identified to date. We assessed the association between SNPs and BMI-adjusted WC and WHR and unadjusted WC in up to 57 412 individuals of European descent from 22 cohorts collaborating with the NHLBI{\textquoteright}s Candidate Gene Association Resource (CARe) project. The study population consisted of women and men aged 20-80 years. Study participants were genotyped using the ITMAT/Broad/CARE array, which includes \~{}50 000 cosmopolitan tagged SNPs across \~{}2100 cardiovascular-related genes. Each trait was modeled as a function of age, study site and principal components to control for population stratification, and we conducted a fixed-effects meta-analysis. No new loci for WC were observed. For WHR analyses, three novel loci were significantly associated (P < 2.4 {\texttimes} 10(-6)). Previously unreported rs2811337-G near TMCC1 was associated with increased WHR (β {\textpm} SE, 0.048 {\textpm} 0.008, P = 7.7 {\texttimes} 10(-9)) as was rs7302703-G in HOXC10 (β = 0.044 {\textpm} 0.008, P = 2.9 {\texttimes} 10(-7)) and rs936108-C in PEMT (β = 0.035 {\textpm} 0.007, P = 1.9 {\texttimes} 10(-6)). Sex-stratified analyses revealed two additional novel signals among females only, rs12076073-A in SHC1 (β = 0.10 {\textpm} 0.02, P = 1.9 {\texttimes} 10(-6)) and rs1037575-A in ATBDB4 (β = 0.046 {\textpm} 0.01, P = 2.2 {\texttimes} 10(-6)), supporting an already established sexual dimorphism of central adiposity-related genetic variants. Functional analysis using ENCODE and eQTL databases revealed that several of these loci are in regulatory regions or regions with differential expression in adipose tissue.

}, keywords = {Adiposity, Adult, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Body Mass Index, European Continental Ancestry Group, Female, Genome-Wide Association Study, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Waist Circumference, Waist-Hip Ratio, Young Adult}, issn = {1460-2083}, doi = {10.1093/hmg/ddt626}, author = {Yoneyama, Sachiko and Guo, Yiran and Lanktree, Matthew B and Barnes, Michael R and Elbers, Clara C and Karczewski, Konrad J and Padmanabhan, Sandosh and Bauer, Florianne and Baumert, Jens and Beitelshees, Amber and Berenson, Gerald S and Boer, Jolanda M A and Burke, Gregory and Cade, Brian and Chen, Wei and Cooper-Dehoff, Rhonda M and Gaunt, Tom R and Gieger, Christian and Gong, Yan and Gorski, Mathias and Heard-Costa, Nancy and Johnson, Toby and Lamonte, Michael J and McDonough, Caitrin and Monda, Keri L and Onland-Moret, N Charlotte and Nelson, Christopher P and O{\textquoteright}Connell, Jeffrey R and Ordovas, Jose and Peter, Inga and Peters, Annette and Shaffer, Jonathan and Shen, Haiqinq and Smith, Erin and Speilotes, Liz and Thomas, Fridtjof and Thorand, Barbara and Monique Verschuren, W M and Anand, Sonia S and Dominiczak, Anna and Davidson, Karina W and Hegele, Robert A and Heid, Iris and Hofker, Marten H and Huggins, Gordon S and Illig, Thomas and Johnson, Julie A and Kirkland, Susan and K{\"o}nig, Wolfgang and Langaee, Taimour Y and McCaffery, Jeanne and Melander, Olle and Mitchell, Braxton D and Munroe, Patricia and Murray, Sarah S and Papanicolaou, George and Redline, Susan and Reilly, Muredach and Samani, Nilesh J and Schork, Nicholas J and van der Schouw, Yvonne T and Shimbo, Daichi and Shuldiner, Alan R and Tobin, Martin D and Wijmenga, Cisca and Yusuf, Salim and Hakonarson, Hakon and Lange, Leslie A and Demerath, Ellen W and Fox, Caroline S and North, Kari E and Reiner, Alex P and Keating, Brendan and Taylor, Kira C} } @article {6817, title = {DCAF4, a novel gene associated with leucocyte telomere length.}, journal = {J Med Genet}, volume = {52}, year = {2015}, month = {2015 Mar}, pages = {157-62}, abstract = {

BACKGROUND: Leucocyte telomere length (LTL), which is fashioned by multiple genes, has been linked to a host of human diseases, including sporadic melanoma. A number of genes associated with LTL have already been identified through genome-wide association studies. The main aim of this study was to establish whether DCAF4 (DDB1 and CUL4-associated factor 4) is associated with LTL. In addition, using ingenuity pathway analysis (IPA), we examined whether LTL-associated genes in the general population might partially explain the inherently longer LTL in patients with sporadic melanoma, the risk for which is increased with ultraviolet radiation (UVR).

RESULTS: Genome-wide association (GWA) meta-analysis and de novo genotyping of 20 022 individuals revealed a novel association (p=6.4{\texttimes}10(-10)) between LTL and rs2535913, which lies within DCAF4. Notably, eQTL analysis showed that rs2535913 is associated with decline in DCAF4 expressions in both lymphoblastoid cells and sun-exposed skin (p=4.1{\texttimes}10(-3) and 2{\texttimes}10(-3), respectively). Moreover, IPA revealed that LTL-associated genes, derived from GWA meta-analysis (N=9190), are over-represented among genes engaged in melanoma pathways. Meeting increasingly stringent p value thresholds (p<0.05, <0.01, <0.005, <0.001) in the LTL-GWA meta-analysis, these genes were jointly over-represented for melanoma at p values ranging from 1.97{\texttimes}10(-169) to 3.42{\texttimes}10(-24).

CONCLUSIONS: We uncovered a new locus associated with LTL in the general population. We also provided preliminary findings that suggest a link of LTL through genetic mechanisms with UVR and melanoma in the general population.

}, keywords = {Alleles, Carrier Proteins, Gene Expression Regulation, Genome-Wide Association Study, Humans, Leukocytes, Melanoma, Risk Factors, Telomere, Telomere Homeostasis}, issn = {1468-6244}, doi = {10.1136/jmedgenet-2014-102681}, author = {Mangino, Massimo and Christiansen, Lene and Stone, Rivka and Hunt, Steven C and Horvath, Kent and Eisenberg, Dan T A and Kimura, Masayuki and Petersen, Inge and Kark, Jeremy D and Herbig, Utz and Reiner, Alex P and Benetos, Athanase and Codd, Veryan and Nyholt, Dale R and Sinnreich, Ronit and Christensen, Kaare and Nassar, Hisham and Hwang, Shih-Jen and Levy, Daniel and Bataille, Veronique and Fitzpatrick, Annette L and Chen, Wei and Berenson, Gerald S and Samani, Nilesh J and Martin, Nicholas G and Tishkoff, Sarah and Schork, Nicholas J and Kyvik, Kirsten Ohm and Dalg{\r a}rd, Christine and Spector, Timothy D and Aviv, Abraham} } @article {7259, title = {Fine-mapping, novel loci identification, and SNP association transferability in a genome-wide association study of QRS duration in African Americans.}, journal = {Hum Mol Genet}, year = {2016}, month = {2016 Aug 29}, abstract = {

The electrocardiographic QRS duration, a measure of ventricular depolarization and conduction, is associated with cardiovascular mortality. While single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with QRS duration have been identified at 22 loci in populations of European descent, the genetic architecture of QRS duration in non-European populations is largely unknown. We therefore performed a genome-wide association study (GWAS) meta-analysis of QRS duration in 13,031 African Americans from ten cohorts and a transethnic GWAS meta-analysis with additional results from populations of European descent. In the African American GWAS, a single genome-wide significant SNP association was identified (rs3922844, P = 4 {\texttimes} 10(-14)) in intron 16 of SCN5A, a voltage-gated cardiac sodium channel gene. The QRS-prolonging rs3922844 C allele was also associated with decreased SCN5A RNA expression in human atrial tissue (P = 1.1 {\texttimes} 10(-4)). High density genotyping revealed that the SCN5A association region in African Americans was confined to intron 16. Transethnic GWAS meta-analysis identified novel SNP associations on chromosome 18 in MYL12A (rs1662342, P = 4.9 {\texttimes} 10(-8)) and chromosome 1 near CD1E and SPTA1 (rs7547997, P = 7.9 {\texttimes} 10(-9)). The 22 QRS loci previously identified in populations of European descent were enriched for significant SNP associations with QRS duration in African Americans (P = 9.9 {\texttimes} 10(-7)), and index SNP associations in or near SCN5A, SCN10A, CDKN1A, NFIA, HAND1, TBX5 and SETBP1 replicated in African Americans. In summary, rs3922844 was associated with QRS duration and SCN5A expression, two novel QRS loci were identified using transethnic meta-analysis, and a significant proportion of QRS-SNP associations discovered in populations of European descent were transferable to African Americans when adequate power was achieved.

}, issn = {1460-2083}, doi = {10.1093/hmg/ddw284}, author = {Evans, Daniel S and Avery, Christy L and Nalls, Mike A and Li, Guo and Barnard, John and Smith, Erin N and Tanaka, Toshiko and Butler, Anne M and Buxbaum, Sarah G and Alonso, Alvaro and Arking, Dan E and Berenson, Gerald S and Bis, Joshua C and Buyske, Steven and Carty, Cara L and Chen, Wei and Chung, Mina K and Cummings, Steven R and Deo, Rajat and Eaton, Charles B and Fox, Ervin R and Heckbert, Susan R and Heiss, Gerardo and Hindorff, Lucia A and Hsueh, Wen-Chi and Isaacs, Aaron and Jamshidi, Yalda and Kerr, Kathleen F and Liu, Felix and Liu, Yongmei and Lohman, Kurt K and Magnani, Jared W and Maher, Joseph F and Mehra, Reena and Meng, Yan A and Musani, Solomon K and Newton-Cheh, Christopher and North, Kari E and Psaty, Bruce M and Redline, Susan and Rotter, Jerome I and Schnabel, Renate B and Schork, Nicholas J and Shohet, Ralph V and Singleton, Andrew B and Smith, Jonathan D and Soliman, Elsayed Z and Srinivasan, Sathanur R and Taylor, Herman A and Van Wagoner, David R and Wilson, James G and Young, Taylor and Zhang, Zhu-Ming and Zonderman, Alan B and Evans, Michele K and Ferrucci, Luigi and Murray, Sarah S and Tranah, Gregory J and Whitsel, Eric A and Reiner, Alex P and Sotoodehnia, Nona} } @article {7591, title = {Telomeres and the natural lifespan limit in humans.}, journal = {Aging (Albany NY)}, volume = {9}, year = {2017}, month = {2017 Apr}, pages = {1130-1142}, abstract = {

An ongoing debate in demography has focused on whether the human lifespan has a maximal natural limit. Taking a mechanistic perspective, and knowing that short telomeres are associated with diminished longevity, we examined whether telomere length dynamics during adult life could set a maximal natural lifespan limit. We define leukocyte telomere length of 5 kb as the {\textquoteright}telomeric brink{\textquoteright}, which denotes a high risk of imminent death. We show that a subset of adults may reach the telomeric brink within the current life expectancy and more so for a 100-year life expectancy. Thus, secular trends in life expectancy should confront a biological limit due to crossing the telomeric brink.

}, issn = {1945-4589}, doi = {10.18632/aging.101216}, author = {Steenstrup, Troels and Kark, Jeremy D and Verhulst, Simon and Thinggaard, Mikael and Hjelmborg, Jacob V B and Dalg{\r a}rd, Christine and Kyvik, Kirsten Ohm and Christiansen, Lene and Mangino, Massimo and Spector, Timothy D and Petersen, Inge and Kimura, Masayuki and Benetos, Athanase and Labat, Carlos and Sinnreich, Ronit and Hwang, Shih-Jen and Levy, Daniel and Hunt, Steven C and Fitzpatrick, Annette L and Chen, Wei and Berenson, Gerald S and Barbieri, Michelangela and Paolisso, Giuseppe and Gadalla, Shahinaz M and Savage, Sharon A and Christensen, Kaare and Yashin, Anatoliy I and Arbeev, Konstantin G and Aviv, Abraham} }