Telomere shortening rate predicts species life span

Abstract

Telomere shortening to a critical length can trigger aging and shorter life spans in mice and humans by a mechanism that involves induction of a persistent DNA damage response at chromosome ends and loss of cellular viability. However, whether telomere length is a universal determinant of species longevity is not known. To determine whether telomere shortening can be a single parameter to predict species longevities, here we measured in parallel the telomere length of a wide variety of species (birds and mammals) with very different life spans and body sizes, including mouse (<i>Mus musculus</i>), goat (<i>Capra hircus</i>), Audouin's gull (<i>Larus audouinii</i>), reindeer (<i>Rangifer tarandus</i>), griffon vulture (<i>Gyps fulvus</i>), bottlenose dolphin (<i>Tursiops truncatus</i>), American flamingo (<i>Phoenicopterus ruber</i>), and Sumatran elephant (<i>Elephas maximus sumatranus</i>). We found that the telomere shortening rate, but not the initial telomere length alone, is a powerful predictor of species life span. These results support the notion that critical telomere shortening and the consequent onset of telomeric DNA damage and cellular senescence are a general determinant of species life span.