TERF2 and obesity due to melanocortin 4 receptor deficiency: Changes in Terf2 expression may represent the deleterious effects of age and obesity on shelterin regulation of telomeres in adipose tissue, or demonstrate a compensatory mechanism, as TRF2 plays a role in double strand break repair (Bradshaw, Stavropoulos, & Meyn, 2005; Mao, Seluanov, Jiang, & Gorbunova, 2007).