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The effects of estrogen and exercise on cardiac telomere related factors in ovariectomized mice
Author(s) -
Patel Anisha,
Witkowski Sarah
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.27.1_supplement.lb681
Subject(s) - ovariectomized rat , estrogen , telomere , medicine , endocrinology , gene expression , telomerase , biology , gene , genetics
Loss of estrogen plays a key role in the cardiovascular health of women, and may be linked to cellular aging. While physical activity has been associated with changes in telomere shelterin components and telomerase activity in the heart, the effects of estrogen are unknown. Objective To determine whether estrogen and/or exercise alters cardiac telomere‐related gene expression in ovariectomized (OVX) mice. Methods Myocardial gene expression was examined in four groups: OVX, sham surgery (SHAM), OVX with exercise (OVX‐EX, 8 weeks of wheel running), and OVX with estrogen supplement (OVX+E2). Telomere length was determined by PCR by telomere Ct to single copy gene Ct ratio (Cawthon 2002, Callicott and Womack 2006). Gene expression was determined via RT‐PCR for mTERT, Acd, Trf1, Trf2, Pot1a, Pot1b, Ku70, Ku80, and normalized to GAPDH. 1‐way ANOVAs with appropriate post‐hoc tests were used to determine differences between groups. Results Telomere length (TL) was significantly lower in OVX+E2 compared with SHAM (p=0.008). Expression of mTERT, Acd, and Ku80 were lower in OVX compared with SHAM but were also lower in OVX‐EX and OVX+E2 (all p<0.05). Expression of Pot1b was higher in OVX+E2 compared with OVX‐EX (p=0.009). Conclusion OVX, E2 and EX appear to alter cardiac telomere related factors however, neither EX nor E2 attenuated the gene expression changes related to OVX. Research Funding: UMass Faculty Research Grant