Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • News & Views
  • Published:

Telomeres, p21 and the cancer-aging hypothesis

Telomere dysfunction suppresses cancer through the p53 tumor suppressor pathway but also contributes to aging. A new study suggests that these effects of dysfunctional telomeres may be separable, such that aging—but not cancer suppression—depends on the p21 cell cycle inhibitor.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Relevant articles

Open Access articles citing this article.

Access options

Buy this article

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: The role of p21 in the p53 response.

References

  1. Janzen, V. et al. Nature 443, 421–426 (2006).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Kim, W.Y. & Sharpless, N.E. Cell 127, 265–275 (2006).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Choudhury, A.R. et al. Nat. Genet. 39, 99–105 (2007).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Maser, R.S. & DePinho, R.A. Science 297, 565–569 (2002).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Rudolph, K.L. et al. Cell 96, 701–712 (1999).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Herbig, U., Ferreira, M., Condel, L., Carey, D. & Sedivy, J.M. Science 311, 1257 (2006).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Vulliamy, T. et al. Nature 413, 432–435 (2001).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Yamaguchi, H. et al. N. Engl. J. Med. 352, 1413–1424 (2005).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Chin, L. et al. Cell 97, 527–538 (1999).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Wang, Y.A., Elson, A. & Leder, P. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 94, 14590–14595 (1997).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Allsopp, R.C., Morin, G.B., DePinho, R., Harley, C.B. & Weissman, I.L. Blood 102, 517–520 (2003).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Samper, E. et al. Blood 99, 2767–2775 (2002).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Dumble, M. et al. Blood, published online 10 October 2006 (doi:10.1182/blood-2006201303–010413).

  14. Christophorou, M.A., Ringshausen, I., Finch, A.J., Swigart, L.B. & Evan, G.I. Nature 443, 214–217 (2006).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Cheng, T. et al. Science 287, 1804–1808 (2000).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Bell, J., Sharpless, N. Telomeres, p21 and the cancer-aging hypothesis. Nat Genet 39, 11–12 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/ng0107-11

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ng0107-11

This article is cited by

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing