Mechanism of Action
Telomerase Activation
Last updated
Increasing the activity of telomerase, the enzyme that adds DNA back onto the protective ends of chromosomes. In most adult cells telomeres shorten with each division and telomerase counteracts that loss. Compounds filed here are reported to raise telomerase activity or slow telomere shortening, mostly in cultured cells.
Why it matters here
Telomere length is one of the few ageing-related properties with an actual laboratory number attached, so claims here can be checked against a measured value rather than a narrative about cellular renewal.
What it is not
Longer telomeres are not established as meaning a longer or healthier life. The association runs in both directions in the literature, and cancer cells depend on telomerase to keep dividing, so more activity is not straightforwardly better. Telomere length measured in white blood cells is also not telomere length in the tissue a claim is about.
Also called
- telomerase
- telomere lengthening
- telomerase activation
- telomerase activity
- pineal peptide activity
Pineal peptide activity resolves here for historical reasons, from older work on pineal-gland extracts. It names a source, not this mechanism, and should not be read as a claim about telomerase.
Compounds carrying this term
None on file yet. This term is in the controlled vocabulary but no compound record currently uses it — which is a statement about our coverage, not about the term.