Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis is a potentially lethal disease associated with the presence of critically short telomeres, currently lacking effective treatment. The Telomere and Telomerase Group at the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO) has succeeded in curing this disease in mice using a gene therapy that lengthens the telomeres. This work constitutes a "proof of concept that telomerase activation represents an effective treatment against pulmonary fibrosis," the authors write in their publication in the journal eLife. Given that telomere shortening is also an indicator of organism aging, Maria A. Blasco, lead author of the paper, says, "This is the first time that pulmonary fibrosis has been treated as an age-related disease, looking for rejuvenating the affected tissues."
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