Evidence map›Paper›PMID 31140977›Full record

ArticleAging2019

Telomerase gene therapy ameliorates the effects of neurodegeneration associated to short telomeres in mice.

Kurt Whittemore, Aksinya Derevyanko, Paula Martinez, Rosa Serrano, Martí Pumarola, Fàtima Bosch, Maria A Blasco

Open access · greenAbstract readEvaluation Study
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Aging, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 43 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
43citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
3.0field-weighted citation impact, top 8% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

43 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 65 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Review
  4. Article
  5. Unraveling the molecular mechanisms of aluminium chloride-induced Alzheimer's disease.Biometals : an international journal on the role of metal ions in biology, biochemistry, and medicine · 2026
    Review
  6. Article
  7. Article
  8. Review
  9. Review
  10. Review
  11. Review
  12. The Anti-Elixir Triad: Non-Synced Circadian Rhythm, Gut Dysbiosis, and Telomeric Damage.Medical principles and practice : international journal of the Kuwait University, Health Science Centre · 2025
    Review
  13. Review
  14. Gene Therapy for Skin Aging.Current gene therapy · 2025
    Review
  15. Review
  16. Review
  17. Review
  18. Review
  19. Article
  20. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.

Kurt WhittemoreTelomeres and Telomerase Group, Molecular Oncology Program, Spanish National Cancer Centre (CNIO), Madrid 28029, Spain.
Aksinya DerevyankoTelomeres and Telomerase Group, Molecular Oncology Program, Spanish National Cancer Centre (CNIO), Madrid 28029, Spain.
Paula MartinezTelomeres and Telomerase Group, Molecular Oncology Program, Spanish National Cancer Centre (CNIO), Madrid 28029, Spain.
Rosa SerranoTelomeres and Telomerase Group, Molecular Oncology Program, Spanish National Cancer Centre (CNIO), Madrid 28029, Spain.
Martí PumarolaUnit of Murine and Comparative Pathology (UPMiC), Department of Animal Medicine and Surgery, Veterinary Faculty, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193 Bellaterra (Cerdanyola del Vallès), Barcelona, Spain.
Fàtima BoschCenter of Animal Biotechnology and Gene Therapy, Department of Animal Medicine and Surgery, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra 08193, Spain.
Maria A BlascoTelomeres and Telomerase Group, Molecular Oncology Program, Spanish National Cancer Centre (CNIO), Madrid 28029, Spain.
Spanish National Cancer Research Centre · ESBiomedical Research Networking Center in Bioengineering, Biomaterials and Nanomedicine · ESUniversitat Autònoma de Barcelona · ES

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Neurodegenerative diseases associated with old age such as Alzheimer's disease present major problems for society, and they currently have no cure. The telomere protective caps at the ends of chromosomes shorten with age, and when they become critically short, they can induce a persistent DNA damage response at chromosome ends, triggering secondary cellular responses such as cell death and cellular senescence. Mice and humans with very short telomeres owing to telomerase deficiencies have an earlier onset of pathologies associated with loss of the regenerative capacity of tissues. However, the effects of short telomeres in very low proliferative tissues such as the brain have not been thoroughly investigated. Here, we describe a mouse model of neurodegeneration owing to presence of short telomeres in the brain as the consequence of telomerase deficiency. Interestingly, we find similar signs of neurodegeneration in very old mice as the consequence of physiological mouse aging. Next, we demonstrate that delivery of telomerase gene therapy to the brain of these mice results in amelioration of some of these neurodegeneration phenotypes. These findings suggest that short telomeres contribute to neurodegeneration diseases with aging and that telomerase activation may have a therapeutic value in these diseases.

Indexed as

Telomere Shortening1-Methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridineAnimalsBrainDependovirusDisease Models, AnimalGenetic TherapyGene Transfer TechniquesMaleMemoryMice, KnockoutNeurodegenerative DiseasesTelomerase1-Methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridineTelomeraseTert protein, mousegene therapyneurodegenerationtelomeraseTERT

Identifiers

PMID31140977
PMCPMC6555470
OpenAlexW2947931506

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.