Modeling telomere shortening process
en-GBde-DEes-ESfr-FR

Modeling telomere shortening process

02/04/2025 Frontiers Journals

Cell aging has always been an important topic in biological research, and telomere shortening is one of the key issues in cell aging studies. Telomeres are special DNA sequences located at the ends of chromosomes that gradually shorten as cells divide, triggering cell senescence, death, or cancer when shortened to critical levels. In the present study, the data of telomere length change were collected by experiment and the shortening process was described by statistical model. However, the existing results mainly focus on the probability distribution fitting of experimental data, and lack the systematic support of non-equilibrium statistical physics theory, leading to a series of key problems that have not been solved. For example, in the complex intracellular environment, the real-time dynamics of telomere shortening are difficult to observe directly, and the underlying microscopic mechanisms remain insufficiently understood. The lack of theoretical prediction tools for the relevant statistics of telomere shortening restricts the application of this study in the quantification of aging and clinical diagnosis. Therefore, it is urgent to introduce new methods to explore the changes in telomere shortening length and its association with aging and build interdisciplinary models to solve the problems.
Recently, a collaborative team from the Deng Weihua lab at Lanzhou University, China, published an article titled " Modeling telomere shortening process " in Quantitative Biology. Based on the perspective of nonequilibrium statistical physics, the team established the microscopic model of the telomere shortening process and derived the macroscopic equation by the continuous time random walk (CTRW) model, which provided a new method for the quantitative study of the telomere shortening process.

Figure 1 illustrates the telomere shortening process based on the CTRW model. Assuming that the cell division cycle follows a power-law distribution, the Fokker-Planck equation describing the evolution of telomere length was derived by combining the jump lengths of incomplete chromosome end duplication (normal distribution) and telomerase action (Poisson distribution). The results show that the kinetic behavior is between normal diffusion and anomalous diffusion. Following this, the specific parameters (such as exonuclease strength ) from non-specific parameters (such as power-law index that can be expressed), which reveal heterogeneity in the rate of telomere shortening between infants and adults are further distinguished. The Feynman-Kac equation is derived to quantify the first passage time (the initiation time of cellular senescence) and occupancy time (the cumulative time in the critical interval) of telomere shortening to the critical length, which provided a theoretical prediction tool for the aging time scale.
DOI: 10.1002/qub2.74

Reference: Han P, Zhou Y, Deng W. Modeling telomere shortening process. Quantitative Biology. 2025; e74. https://doi.org/10.1002/qub2.74
Attached files
  • Continuous-time random walk model of telomere shortening (shortening only depends on incomplete duplication of chromosome ends, and the action of telomerase during cell replication).
02/04/2025 Frontiers Journals
Regions: Asia, China
Keywords: Applied science, Technology

Disclaimer: AlphaGalileo is not responsible for the accuracy of content posted to AlphaGalileo by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the AlphaGalileo system.

Testimonials

For well over a decade, in my capacity as a researcher, broadcaster, and producer, I have relied heavily on Alphagalileo.
All of my work trips have been planned around stories that I've found on this site.
The under embargo section allows us to plan ahead and the news releases enable us to find key experts.
Going through the tailored daily updates is the best way to start the day. It's such a critical service for me and many of my colleagues.
Koula Bouloukos, Senior manager, Editorial & Production Underknown
We have used AlphaGalileo since its foundation but frankly we need it more than ever now to ensure our research news is heard across Europe, Asia and North America. As one of the UK’s leading research universities we want to continue to work with other outstanding researchers in Europe. AlphaGalileo helps us to continue to bring our research story to them and the rest of the world.
Peter Dunn, Director of Press and Media Relations at the University of Warwick
AlphaGalileo has helped us more than double our reach at SciDev.Net. The service has enabled our journalists around the world to reach the mainstream media with articles about the impact of science on people in low- and middle-income countries, leading to big increases in the number of SciDev.Net articles that have been republished.
Ben Deighton, SciDevNet

We Work Closely With...


  • BBC
  • The Times
  • National Geographic
  • University of Cambridge
  • iesResearch
Copyright 2025 by AlphaGalileo Terms Of Use Privacy Statement