Scientists study cancer-aging relationship

LA JOLLA, Calif., Feb. 6 (UPI) -- U.S. researchers say they have moved a step closer to understanding the relationship between aging and cancer.

The scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies took that step by visualizing chromosomes of cells from patients with a heritable premature aging disease known as Werner Syndrome, which is caused by the loss of the WRN gene.

Painting each chromosome pair in a different color revealed the breakage and fusion of chromosomes that causes genomic instability and might explain the high incidence of cancer among individuals with Werner syndrome, the Salk scientists said.

The researchers -- led by Jan Karlseder, an assistant professor in Salk's Regulatory Biology Laboratory in La Jolla, Calif. -- showed rebuilding structures called telomeres, which are found at the tips of each chromosome, significantly blocks the type of genetic damage seen in cells of patients with Werner syndrome.

Patients with Werner syndrome manifest signs of aging, such as skin wrinkling, baldness or hair graying, during their teens. Most die in their 40s or 50s due to a predisposition to diseases such as cancer.

The research appears in the online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.