Topic: Roles of Telomeres in Neurodegenerative Diseases

Telomeres protect the ends of linear eukaryotic chromosomes. They have been shown to be involved in various fundamental processes such as senescence, ageing, and diseases including neurodegenerative diseases (ND). The brain consists of different cell types: postmitotic neurons as well as proliferating glial cells. In the latter, telomeres can shorten, but the former can only accumulate DNA damage in telomeres. However, both processes are known to induce telomere dysfunction including senescence and possibly also cell death. Ageing is known to be an important risk factor for ND. Consequently, telomeres in brain and ND are receiving increasing interest from investigators from different scientific fields: basic biologists, neuropathologists and clinicians involved in ND. This Special Issue invites original and review articles dealing with the roles of telomeres in dividing or postmitotic brain cells, and brain stem cells, as well as interventional studies trying to modify and ameliorate telomeric damage in the brain from patients or animal models of ND. As telomeres are also indicators of cellular stress such as oxidative stress and inflammation, studies using other cell types such as blood monocytes (PBMCs) as surrogate markers for systemic stress in ND are also welcome.

Telomeres

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