Relation of telomere length with preterm birth and cardiovascular risk factors.

<p>p-values below 0.05 are shown in bold type. ß coefficients equate to the difference in telomere length per unit change in the variable. DBP = diastolic blood pressure; HDLc = high-density lipoprotein cholesterol; hsCRP = C-reactive protein; LDLc = low-density lipoprotein cholesterol; SBP = systolic blood pressure; Si = Insulin sensitivity; TC = Total cholesterol; Tg = triglycerides. The variable preterm equates to the difference between subjects born preterm and the reference group subjects born at term.</p><p>¹ = Adjusted for gender, birth weight SDS and birth length SDS.</p><p>Relation of telomere length with preterm birth and cardiovascular risk factors.</p

Distributions of mean telomere lengths in subjects born preterm and at term.

<p>T/S ratio = Telomere to single-gene copy ratio; Preterm = gestational age < 37 wks; The horizontal bars represent the mean values.</p

Multiple regression for variables influencing telomere length in the total study population.

<p>p-values below 0.05 are shown in bold type. GA = Gestational age; BL*AH = Interaction term birth length * adult height. SES = Socioeconomic status (Low and middle socioeconomic status are used as reference for SES analyses).</p><p>Multiple regression for variables influencing telomere length in the total study population.</p

Multiple regression analysis for variables associated with leukocyte telomere length at 21 years of age—Analysis including birth weight.

<p>Multiple regression analysis for variables associated with leukocyte telomere length at 21 years of age—Analysis including birth weight.</p

Multiple regression analysis for variables associated with leukocyte telomere length at 21 years of age—Analysis including birth length.

<p>Multiple regression analysis for variables associated with leukocyte telomere length at 21 years of age—Analysis including birth length.</p

Clinical characteristics.

<p>Clinical characteristics.</p

Weight gain and fat mass accumulation during infancy and LTL.

<p>Values are given as estimated means ± SEM, adjusted for age and gestational age.</p

Ventricular function and dimensions based on quantitative analysis of high-speed video microscopy.

<p>A. Ventricular dimensions at end-diastole (black bars) and end-systole (white bars). Conditions are identical to those in part a. Values plotted are mean (n = 4 embryos) ± standard deviation. Asterisk (*) denotes statistically significant difference by ANOVA. B. Ventricular fractional shortening observed after injection of: control mismatched morpholino (MM MO), <i>zSTARS</i> morpholino + <i>srf</i> mRNA (MO + SRF), <i>srf</i> mRNA only (SRF only), or <i>zSTARS</i> morpholino only (MO only). Values plotted are mean (n = 4 embryos) ± standard deviation. Asterisk (*) denotes statistically significant difference by ANOVA.</p

Binding of SRF to the <i>STARS</i> promoter.

<p>A. STARS expression activates reporter gene constructs containing the conserved serum response element (SRE). Luciferase activity is shown for two constructs upstream of the <i>STARS</i> transcription start site. B. Chromatin immunoprecipitation assays were performed with formaldehyde cross-linked chromatin isolated from feline adult cardiomyocytes. Asterisk (*) denotes PCR primer locations. Immunoprecipitations were performed without primary antibody (No Ab) as a negative control, with anti-SRF antibody. Input DNA is also shown as a positive control. Similar results were observed in four independent experiments. C. The SRF inhibitor CCG-1423 (1 µM) abolished <i>STARS</i> −365/+60 promoter-reporter activity in H9c2 cells (n = 3 experiments, in triplicates).</p

Whole mount <i>in situ</i> expression of <i>zSTARS</i> in zebrafish embryos.

<p>A. Frontal view of 48 hpf embryo showing <i>zSTARS</i> expression in ventricle (v) and atrium (a). B. Schematic depicting position of ventricular (v) and atrium (a) in the view from part A. C. Expression in somites at 16 somite stage (17 hpf). D. and E. Expression in somites and central nervous system at 24 hpf (D) and 48 hpf (E).</p