echemi logo
Product
  • Product
  • Supplier
  • Inquiry
    Home > Biochemistry News > Biotechnology News > "PNAS" The Potential Role of Junk DNA Sequences in Aging and Cancer

    "PNAS" The Potential Role of Junk DNA Sequences in Aging and Cancer

    • Last Update: 2021-07-31
    • Source: Internet
    • Author: User
    Search more information of high quality chemicals, good prices and reliable suppliers, visit www.echemi.com

    A research team led by Professor Jiyue Zhu from Washington State University School of Pharmacy recently discovered a DNA region called VNTR2-1 that seems to drive the activity of the telomerase gene, which has been shown to prevent certain types of cells Aging


    The telomerase gene controls the activity of telomerase.


    Understanding how the telomerase gene is regulated and activated, and why it is only active in certain types of cells, may one day become the key to understanding how humans age and how to prevent the spread of cancer


    Zhu said that they recently discovered that VNTR2-1 helps drive the activity of the telomerase gene.


    "Almost 50% of our genome is made up of repetitive DNA that does not code for proteins," Zhu said


    Their findings are based on a series of experiments that found that deleting the DNA sequence of cancer cells—whether human cell lines or mice—can shorten telomeres, cells age, and tumors stop growing


    Professor Zhu said: "It's very different.


    Since the very short sequence was only found in African-American participants, they observed this group more closely and found that compared with the control group participants, there were relatively fewer centenarians with a shorter VNTR2-1 sequence


    "Our findings tell us that the VNTR2-1 sequence contributes to our genetic diversity in aging and cancer," Zhu said


    Zhu pointed out that because African-Americans have lived in the United States for several generations, many of them have white ancestors, and they may have inherited some of this genetic sequence from whites


    In addition to Zhu, the authors of the paper include Tao Xu and De Cheng, co-first authors of Washington State University, and their collaborators at China Northeast Forestry University, Pennsylvania State University, and North Carolina State University



    Tao Xu, De Cheng, Yuanjun Zhao, Jinglong Zhang, Xiaolu Zhu, Fan Zhang, Gang Chen, Yang Wang, Xiufeng Yan, Gavin P.


    This article is an English version of an article which is originally in the Chinese language on echemi.com and is provided for information purposes only. This website makes no representation or warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied, as to the accuracy, completeness ownership or reliability of the article or any translations thereof. If you have any concerns or complaints relating to the article, please send an email, providing a detailed description of the concern or complaint, to service@echemi.com. A staff member will contact you within 5 working days. Once verified, infringing content will be removed immediately.

    Contact Us

    The source of this page with content of products and services is from Internet, which doesn't represent ECHEMI's opinion. If you have any queries, please write to service@echemi.com. It will be replied within 5 days.

    Moreover, if you find any instances of plagiarism from the page, please send email to service@echemi.com with relevant evidence.