Regulation of Telomere Length and Atherosclerosis by Protection of Telomeres 1 Protein

The aim of this study was to investigate the manifestation and significance of changes in both telomere length and the expression of human telomere protective protein (hPOT1) in the peripheral blood leukocytes of patients with atherosclerosis (AS). One hundred subjects-excluding those with acute or chronic inflammation, cancer, and autoimmune diseases-were enrolled in this study and divided into two groups: the atherosclerosis group (AS group) and control group. We extracted peripheral blood leukocyte DNA along with its peripheral proteins. After purity testing, a digoxigeninlabeled telomere probe was used for Southern blotting; the length of the telomeres was obtained by image scanning and software analysis. After extracting the peripheral proteins, hPOT1 expression was detected by western blotting and scanned with an image analysis software system. We found that the telomere lengths in the peripheral blood leukocytes of AS and control groups were 7.45 ± 1.15 kb versus 8.11 ± 0.69 kb, respectively, and that the difference between them was statistically significant (p < 0.005). The expression level of hPOT1 protein in the peripheral blood leukocytes of the AS group was significantly higher than that of the control group (t = 3.77, p < 0.01). As can be determined from these results, telomere length in the peripheral blood leukocytes of AS patients was significantly shorter compared with that of the control group. The regulation of telomere length by hPOT1 by negative regulation may be one of the influencing factors in AS. Therefore, it is suggested that change in telomere length may play a role in the occurrence and development of AS.