{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,15]],"date-time":"2026-10-15T16:17:58Z","timestamp":1792081078371,"version":"4.4.0"},"reference-count":49,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"9","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2022,9,19]],"date-time":"2022-09-19T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1663545600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Antioxidants"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Cigarette smoking among women of reproductive age is known to take a toll on systemic health and fertility potential by severely impacting ovarian tissues and cells, such as granulosa and cumulus cells (CCs). The purpose of this study was to determine the potential damage caused by tobacco smoke at a molecular level in the CCs of females who had undergone in vitro fertilization. The level of intracellular damage was determined by estimating the average telomere length (TL) and mitochondrial DNA copy number (mtDNA-CN), as well as the expression profile of telomere maintenance genes TERF1, TERF2, POT1 and microRNAs miR-155, miR-23a and miR-185. Western blotting analysis was performed to detect consequent protein levels of TERF1, TERF2 and POT1. Our results evidenced significantly lower relative TL and mtDNA-CN and a down-regulation pattern for all three described genes and corresponding proteins in the CCs of smokers compared with controls (p &lt; 0.05). No significant differences were found in the miRNAs\u2019 modulation. Combined, our data add another piece to the puzzle of the complex regulatory molecular networks controlling the general effects of tobacco smoke in CCs. This pilot study extends the until now modest number of studies simultaneously investigating the mtDNA-CN and TL pathways in the human CCs of smoking women.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/antiox11091841","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,9,19]],"date-time":"2022-09-19T21:47:27Z","timestamp":1663624047000},"page":"1841","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":6,"title":["The Aftermath of Long-Term Cigarette Smoking on Telomere Length and Mitochondrial DNA Copy Number in Human Cumulus Cells Prior to In Vitro Fertilization\u2014A Pilot Study"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"11","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5248-7194","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Fani","family":"Konstantinidou","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Psychological Health and Territorial Sciences, School of Medicine and Health Sciences, \u201cG. d\u2019Annunzio\u201d University of Chieti-Pescara, 66100 Chieti, Italy"},{"name":"Unit of Molecular Genetics, Center for Advanced Studies and Technology (CAST), \u201cG. d\u2019Annunzio\u201d University of Chieti-Pescara, 66100 Chieti, Italy"},{"name":"Faculty of Bioscience, Agri-Food and Environmental Technologies, University of Teramo, 64100 Teramo, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Maria Cristina","family":"Budani","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medical, Oral and Biotechnological Sciences, \u201cG. d\u2019Annunzio\u201d University of Chieti-Pescara, 66100 Chieti, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7754-4653","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Guya Diletta","family":"Marconi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medical, Oral and Biotechnological Sciences, \u201cG. d\u2019Annunzio\u201d University of Chieti-Pescara, 66100 Chieti, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Francesca","family":"Gonnella","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Psychological Health and Territorial Sciences, School of Medicine and Health Sciences, \u201cG. d\u2019Annunzio\u201d University of Chieti-Pescara, 66100 Chieti, Italy"},{"name":"Unit of Molecular Genetics, Center for Advanced Studies and Technology (CAST), \u201cG. d\u2019Annunzio\u201d University of Chieti-Pescara, 66100 Chieti, Italy"},{"name":"Faculty of Bioscience, Agri-Food and Environmental Technologies, University of Teramo, 64100 Teramo, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Annalina","family":"Sarra","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Philosophical, Pedagogical and Quantitative Economic Sciences, \u201cG. d\u2019Annunzio\u201d University of Chieti-Pescara, 66100 Chieti, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7459-4898","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Oriana","family":"Trubiani","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Innovative Technologies in Medicine & Dentistry, \u201cG. d\u2019Annunzio\u201d University of Chieti-Pescara, 66100 Chieti, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Liborio","family":"Stuppia","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Psychological Health and Territorial Sciences, School of Medicine and Health Sciences, \u201cG. d\u2019Annunzio\u201d University of Chieti-Pescara, 66100 Chieti, Italy"},{"name":"Unit of Molecular Genetics, Center for Advanced Studies and Technology (CAST), \u201cG. d\u2019Annunzio\u201d University of Chieti-Pescara, 66100 Chieti, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Gian Mario","family":"Tiboni","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medical, Oral and Biotechnological Sciences, \u201cG. d\u2019Annunzio\u201d University of Chieti-Pescara, 66100 Chieti, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9999-5823","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Valentina","family":"Gatta","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Psychological Health and Territorial Sciences, School of Medicine and Health Sciences, \u201cG. d\u2019Annunzio\u201d University of Chieti-Pescara, 66100 Chieti, Italy"},{"name":"Unit of Molecular Genetics, Center for Advanced Studies and Technology (CAST), \u201cG. d\u2019Annunzio\u201d University of Chieti-Pescara, 66100 Chieti, 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