Synthetic DNA Probe: Gateway to Reverse Aging

Bio-compatible synthetic probe to view dynamics of telomeres was designed by scientists at the Institute for Integrated Cell-Material Science (iCeMS) and Kyoto University, published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.

“Chromosome ends are constantly at risk of degradation and fusion, so they are protected by structures called telomeres, which are made of long repeating DNA sequences and bound proteins. If telomeres malfunction, they are unable to maintain chromosome stability, which can lead to diseases such as cancer. Also, telomeres normally shorten with each cell division until they reach their limit, causing cell death", says iCeMS chemical biologist Hiroshi Sugiyama, who led the study.

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‘Bio-compatible synthetic probe – SiR-TTet59B can now be utilized to view the dynamics of telomeres during cell division. This may lead to the development of novel therapeutics for aging and diseases like cancer.’

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Instant picturization of the telomeres can open up the world of novel therapeutics for aging and diseases like cancer. This near-infrared fluorogenic pyrrole–imidazole polyamide (PIP) probe – SiR-TTet59B targets the repeating sequences of DNA in the telomeres.

Telomere Dynamics:

The research team conjugated the chromosomal tips – telomeres to a fluorescent compound, calledsilicon–rhodamine (SiR) and observed their dynamics during different stages of cell division, mitosis.

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It was demonstrated that the fluorescence intensity varied with the change in telomere length. Low fluorescence intensity was observed in telomere shortening whereas intensity increased with the increase in telomere length.

The study thereby highlights the application of the probe to detect various age-related degenerative diseases due to severe telomere shortening. The probe can be also be designed to target different disease-related DNA sequences.

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Source-Medindia

Telomere Shortening And Ageing
Telomeres are cap- like structures at chromosome ends that play an important role in ageing and in the initiation and progression of various diseases.