ArticlePhilosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences2018
Evolution of telomere maintenance and tumour suppressor mechanisms across mammals.
Article in Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 45 papers.
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Who cites it
45 citing papers in PubMed, 120 citations in OpenAlex.
- Links between mitochondrial function, whole-animal metabolic rate, telomere dynamics and swimming performance in minnows.The Journal of experimental biology · 2026Article
- Of Barriers and Loops-How Evolution Limits Most Cancer Risks to Older Ages.Cancer discovery · 2026Review
- Short- and long-term costs of reproduction revealed by telomere dynamics in wild greater horseshoe bats.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025Article
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- The evolution of cancer and ageing: a history of constraint.Nature reviews. Cancer · 2025Review
- African spiny mice show resistance to DMBA/TPA-induced squamous carcinogenesis with distinct benign tumor profile.Protein & cell · 2025Article
- Unlocking longevity through the comparative biology of aging.Nature aging · 2025Review
- Limited cell-autonomous anticancer mechanisms in long-lived bats.Nature communications · 2025Article
- DNA repair and anti-cancer mechanisms in the long-lived bowhead whale.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2024Article
- Primary Cell Culture as a Model System for Evolutionary Molecular Physiology.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024Review
- PP2A-based triple-strike therapy overcomes mitochondrial apoptosis resistance in brain cancer cells.Molecular oncology · 2023Article
- Temperature-independent telomere lengthening with age in the long-lived human fish (Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2023Article
- RAS and PP2A activities converge on epigenetic gene regulation.Life science alliance · 2023Article
- A burst of genomic innovation at the origin of placental mammals mediated embryo implantation.Communications biology · 2023Article
- Longitudinal telomere dynamics within natural lifespans of a wild bird.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- Both age and social environment shape the phenotype of ant workers.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- Does pre-spawning catch and release angling affect offspring telomere dynamics in Atlantic salmon?Conservation physiology · 2023Article
- Habitat restoration weakens negative environmental effects on telomere dynamics.Molecular ecology · 2022Article
- Two aspects of longevity are associated with rates of loss of telomeres in birds.Ecology and evolution · 2022Article
- Cross-species identification of cancer resistance-associated genes that may mediate human cancer risk.Science advances · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
9 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Mammalian species differ dramatically in telomere biology. Species larger than 5-10 kg repress somatic telomerase activity and have shorter telomeres, leading to replicative senescence. It has been proposed that evolution of replicative senescence in large-bodied species is an anti-tumour mechanism counteracting increased risk of cancer due to increased cell numbers. By contrast, small-bodied species express high telomerase activity and have longer telomeres. To counteract cancer risk due to longer lifespan, long-lived small-bodied species evolved additional telomere-independent tumour suppressor mechanisms. Here, we tested the connection between telomere biology and tumorigenesis by analysing the propensity of fibroblasts from 18 rodent species to form tumours. We found a negative correlation between species lifespan and anchorage-independent growth. Small-bodied species required inactivation of Rb and/or p53 and expression of oncogenic H-Ras to form tumours. Large-bodied species displayed a continuum of phenotypes requiring additional genetic 'hits' for malignant transformation. Based on these data we refine the model of the evolution of tumour suppressor mechanisms and telomeres. We propose that two different strategies evolved in small and large species because small-bodied species cannot tolerate small tumours that form prior to activation of the telomere barrier, and must instead use telomere-independent strategies that act earlier, at the hyperplasia stage.This article is part of the theme issue 'Understanding diversity in telomere dynamics'.
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