An optimised step-by-step protocol for measuring relative telomere length

Mugdha V. Joglekar, Sarang N. Satoor, Wilson K. M. Wong, Feifei Cheng, Ronald C. W. Ma, Anandwardhan A. Hardikar

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

37 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Telomeres represent the nucleotide repeat sequences at the ends of chromosomes and are essential for chromosome stability. They can shorten at each round of DNA replication mainly because of incomplete DNA synthesis of the lagging strand. Reduced relative telomere length is associated with aging and a range of disease states. Different methods such as terminal restriction fragment analysis, real-time quantitative PCR (qPCR) and fluorescence in situ hybridization are available to measure telomere length; however, the qPCR-based method is commonly used for large population-based studies. There are multiple variations across qPCR-based methods, including the choice of the single-copy gene, primer sequences, reagents, and data analysis methods in the different reported studies so far. Here, we provide a detailed step-by-step protocol that we have optimized and successfully tested in the hands of other users. This protocol will help researchers interested in measuring relative telomere lengths in cells or across larger clinical cohort/study samples to determine associations of telomere length with health and disease.
Original languageEnglish
Article number27
Number of pages12
JournalMethods and Protocols
Volume3
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2020

Open Access - Access Right Statement

© 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

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