Abstract
The fragile X premutation is defined by the expansion of the CGG trinucleotide repeat at the 5′ UTR of the FMR1 gene to between 55 and 200 repeats, while repeat tracks longer than 200 are defined as full mutations. Men carrying a premutation are at increased risk for fragile X-associated tremor/ataxia syndrome (FXTAS); those with > 200 repeats have fragile X syndrome, a common genetic form of intellectual disabilities. In our study, we tested the hypothesis that men carrying a fragile X premutation or full mutation are “biologically older”, as suggested by the associated age-related disorder in the presence of the fragile X premutation or the altered cellular pathology that affects both the fragile X premutation and full mutation carriers. Thus, we predicted that both groups would have shorter telomeres than men carrying the normal size repeat allele. Using linear regression models, we found that, on average, premutation carriers had shorter telomeres compared with non-carriers (n = 69 vs n = 36; p = 0.02) and that there was no difference in telomere length between full mutation carriers and non-carriers (n = 37 vs n = 29; p > 0.10). Among premutation carriers only, we also asked whether telomere length was shorter among men with vs without symptoms of FXTAS (n = 28 vs n = 38 and n = 27 vs n = 41, depending on criteria) and found no evidence for a difference (p > 0.10). Previous studies have shown that the premutation is transcribed whereas the full mutation is not, and the expanded repeat track in FMR1 transcript is thought to lead to the risk for premutation-associated disorders. Thus, our data suggest that the observed premutation-only telomere shortening may be a consequence of the toxic effect of the premutation transcript and suggest that premutation carriers are “biologically older” than men carrying the normal size allele in the same age group.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Albizua I, Rambo-Martin BL, Allen EG, He W, Amin AS, Sherman SL (2017) Women who carry a fragile X premutation are biologically older than noncarriers as measured by telomere length. Am J Med Genet Part A 2017(173A):2985–2994
Allen EG, He W, Yadav-Shah M, Sherman SL (2004) A study of the distributional characteristics of FMR1 transcript levels in 238 individuals. Hum Genet 114(5):439–447
Allen EG, Sullivan AK, Marcus M, Small C, Dominguez C, Epstein MP, Charen K, He W, Taylor KC, Sherman SL (2007) Examination of reproductive aging milestones among women who carry the FMR1 premutation. Hum Reprod (Oxford, England) 22(8):2142–2152
Allen EG, Hunter JE, Rusin M, Juncos J, Novak G, Hamilton D, Shubeck L, Charen K, Sherman SL (2011) Neuropsychological findings from older premutation carrier males and their noncarrier siblings from families with fragile X syndrome. Neuropsychology 25(3):404–411
Aviv A (2008) The epidemiology of human telomeres: faults and promises. J Gerontol Ser A Biol Sci Med Sci 63(9):979–983
Benetos A, Gardner JP, Zureik M, Labat C, Xiaobin L, Adamopoulos C, Temmar M, Bean KE, Thomas F, Aviv A (2004) Short telomeres are associated with increased carotid atherosclerosis in hypertensive subjects. Hypertension 43(2):182–185
Brown WT, Houck GE Jr, Jeziorowska A, Levinson FN, Ding X, Dobkin C, Zhong N, Henderson J, Brooks SS, Jenkins EC (1993) Rapid fragile X carrier screening and prenatal diagnosis using a nonradioactive PCR test. JAMA 270(13):1569–1575
Cawthon RM (2002) Telomere measurement by quantitative PCR. Nucleic Acids Res 30(10):e47
Ennis S, Ward D, Murray A (2006) Nonlinear association between CGG repeat number and age of menopause in FMR1 premutation carriers. Eur J Hum Genet 14(2):253–255
Garcia-Arocena D, Hagerman PJ (2010) Advances in understanding the molecular basis of FXTAS. Hum Mol Genet 19(R1):R83–89
Hagerman R, Hagerman P (2013) Advances in clinical and molecular understanding of the FMR1 premutation and fragile X-associated tremor/ataxia syndrome. Lancet Neurol 12(8):786–798
Hagerman RJ, Protic D, Rajaratnam A, Salcedo-Arellano MJ, Aydin EY, Schneider A (2018) Fragile X-associated neuropsychiatric disorders (FXAND). Front Psychiatry 2018(9):564. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2018.00564
Hastie ND, Dempster M, Dunlop MG, Thompson AM, Green DK, Allshire RC (1990) Telomere reduction in human colorectal carcinoma and with ageing. Nature 346(6287):866–868
Hoffmann J, Erben Y, Zeiher AM, Dimmeler S, Spyridopoulos I (2009) Telomere length-heterogeneity among myeloid cells is a predictor for chronological ageing. Exp Gerontol 44(5):363–366
Hunter J, Rivero-Arias O, Angelov A, Kim E, Fotheringham I, Leal J (2014) Epidemiology of fragile X syndrome: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Am J Med Genet A 164A(7):1648–1658
Ishii A, Nakamura K, Kishimoto H, Honma N, Aida J, Sawabe M, Arai T, Fujiwara M, Takeuchi F, Kato M, Oshimura M, Izumiyama N, Takubo K (2006) Telomere shortening with aging in the human pancreas. Exp Gerontol 41(9):882–886
Jacquemont S, Hagerman RJ, Leehey MA, Hall DA, Levine RA, Brunberg JA, Zhang L, Jardini T, Gane LW, Harris SW, Herman K, Grigsby J, Greco CM, Berry-Kravis E, Tassone F, Hagerman PJ (2004) Penetrance of the fragile X-associated tremor/ataxia syndrome in a premutation carrier population. JAMA 291(4):460–469
Jacquemont S, Leehey MA, Hagerman RJ, Beckett LA, Hagerman PJ (2006) Size bias of fragile X premutation alleles in late-onset movement disorders. J Med Genet 43(10):804–809
Jenkins EC, Tassone F, Ye L, Gu H, Xi M, Velinov M, Brown WT, Hagerman RJ, Hagerman PJ (2008) Reduced telomere length in older men with premutation alleles of the fragile X mental retardation 1 gene. Am J Med Genet A 146a(12):1543–1546
Jenkins EC, Tassone F, Ye L, Hoogeveen AT, Brown WT, Hagerman RJ, Hagerman PJ (2012) Reduced telomere length in individuals with FMR1 premutations and full mutations. Am J Med Genet A 158a(5):1060–1065
Juncos JL, Lazarus JT, Allen EG, Shubeck L, Rusin M, Novak G, Hamilton D, Rohr J, Sherman SL (2011) New clinical findings in the Fragile X-associated Tremor Ataxia Syndrome (FXTAS). Neurogenetics 12(2):123–135. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10048-010-0270-5
Kenneson A, Zhang F, Hagedorn CH, Warren ST (2001) Reduced FMRP and increased FMR1 transcription is proportionally associated with CGG repeat number in intermediate-length and premutation carriers. Hum Mol Genet 10(14):1449–1454
Leehey MA, Berry-Kravis E, Goetz CG, Zhang L, Hall DA, Li L, Rice CD, Lara R, Cogswell J, Reynolds A, Gane L, Jacquemont S, Tassone F, Grigsby J, Hagerman RJ, Hagerman PJ (2008) FMR1 CGG repeat length predicts motor dysfunction in premutation carriers. Neurology 70(16 Pt 2):1397–1402
Lindsey J, McGill NI, Lindsey LA, Green DK, Cooke HJ (1991) In vivo loss of telomeric repeats with age in humans. Mutat Res 256(1):45–48
Lynch SM, Peek MK, Mitra N, Ravichandran K, Branas C, Spangler E, Zhou W, Paskett ED, Gehlert S, DeGraffinreid C, Rebbeck TR, Riethman H (2016) Race, ethnicity, psychosocial factors, and telomere length in a multicenter setting. PLoS ONE 11(1):e0146723
Martinez P, Thanasoula M, Munoz P, Liao C, Tejera A, McNees C, Flores JM, Fernandez-Capetillo O, Tarsounas M, Blasco MA (2009) Increased telomere fragility and fusions resulting from TRF1 deficiency lead to degenerative pathologies and increased cancer in mice. Genes Dev 23(17):2060–2075
Meadows KL, Pettay D, Newman J, Hersey J, Ashley AE, Sherman SL (1996) Survey of the fragile X syndrome and the fragile X E syndrome in a special education needs population. Am J Med Genet 64(2):428–433
Panossian LA, Porter VR, Valenzuela HF, Zhu X, Reback E, Masterman D, Cummings JL, Effros RB (2003) Telomere shortening in T cells correlates with Alzheimer's disease status. Neurobiol Aging 24(1):77–84
Primerano B, Tassone F, Hagerman RJ, Hagerman P, Amaldi F, Bagni C (2002) Reduced FMR1 mRNA translation efficiency in fragile X patients with premutations. RNA (New York, NY) 8(12):1482–1488
Samani NJ, Boultby R, Butler R, Thompson JR, Goodall AH (2001) Telomere shortening in atherosclerosis. Lancet 358(9280):472–473
Spath MA, Feuth TB, Smits AP, Yntema HG, Braat DD, Thomas CM, van Kessel AG, Sherman SL, Allen EG (2011) Predictors and risk model development for menopausal age in fragile X premutation carriers. Genet Med 13(7):643–650
Sullivan AK, Marcus M, Epstein MP, Allen EG, Anido AE, Paquin JJ, Yadav-Shah M, Sherman SL (2005) Association of FMR1 repeat size with ovarian dysfunction. Hum Reprod (Oxford, England) 20(2):402–412
Takubo K, Izumiyama-Shimomura N, Honma N, Sawabe M, Arai T, Kato M, Oshimura M, Nakamura K (2002) Telomere lengths are characteristic in each human individual. Exp Gerontol 37(4):523–531
Tassone F, Hagerman RJ, Taylor AK, Mills JB, Harris SW, Gane LW, Hagerman PJ (2000) Clinical involvement and protein expression in individuals with the FMR1 premutation. Am J Med Genet 91(2):144–152
Tejada MI, Garcia-Alegria E, Bilbao A, Martinez-Bouzas C, Beristain E, Poch M, Ramos-Arroyo MA, Lopez B, Fernandez Carvajal I, Ribate MP, Ramos F (2008) Analysis of the molecular parameters that could predict the risk of manifesting premature ovarian failure in female premutation carriers of fragile X syndrome. Menopause 15(5):945–949
Todd PK, Oh SY, Krans A, He F, Sellier C, Frazer M, Renoux AJ, Chen KC, Scaglione KM, Basrur V, Elenitoba-Johnson K, Vonsattel JP, Louis ED, Sutton MA, Taylor JP, Mills RE, Charlet-Berguerand N, Paulson HL (2013) CGG repeat-associated translation mediates neurodegeneration in fragile X tremor ataxia syndrome. Neuron 78(3):440–455
Usdin K, Hayward BE, Kumari D, Lokanga RA, Sciascia N, Zhao XN (2014) Repeat-mediated genetic and epigenetic changes at the FMR1 locus in the Fragile X-related disorders. Front Genet 5:226
Acknowledgements
We would like to thank all the participants who made this study possible, along with those who helped with recruitment and data collection. This work was supported by the award (NS091859) from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) and the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
On behalf of all authors, the corresponding author states that there is no conflict of interest.
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Albizua, I., Chopra, P., Allen, E.G. et al. Study of telomere length in men who carry a fragile X premutation or full mutation allele. Hum Genet 139, 1531–1539 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00439-020-02194-8
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00439-020-02194-8