| First Author | García-Cao I | Year | 2006 |
| Journal | EMBO Rep | Volume | 7 |
| Issue | 5 | Pages | 546-52 |
| PubMed ID | 16582880 | Mgi Jnum | J:116879 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:3695180 | Doi | 10.1038/sj.embor.7400667 |
| Citation | Garcia-Cao I, et al. (2006) Increased p53 activity does not accelerate telomere-driven ageing. EMBO Rep 7(5):546-52 |
| abstractText | There is a great interest in determining the impact of p53 on ageing and, for this, it is important to discriminate among the known causes of ageing. Telomere loss is a well-established source of age-associated damage, which by itself can recapitulate ageing in mouse models. Here, we have used a genetic approach to interrogate whether p53 contributes to the elimination of telomere-damaged cells and its impact on telomere-driven ageing. We have generated compound mice carrying three functional copies of the p53 gene (super-p53) in a telomerase-deficient background and we have measured the presence of chromosomal abnormalities and DNA damage in several tissues. We have found that the in vivo load of telomere-derived chromosomal damage is significantly decreased in super-p53/telomerase-null mice compared with normal-p53/telomerase-null mice. Interestingly, the presence of extra p53 activity neither accelerates nor delays telomere-driven ageing. From these observations, we conclude that p53 has an active role in eliminating telomere-damaged cells, and we exclude the possibility of an age-promoting effect of p53 on telomere-driven ageing. |
