Telomerase in T lymphocytes: use it and lose it?

J Immunol

Department of Immunology and Molecular Pathology, University College London, London, United Kingdom.

Published: June 2007

The enzyme telomerase counteracts telomere loss in proliferating cells and extends their capacity for replication. The importance of telomerase is highlighted by the award of the 2006 Albert Lasker Prize for Basic Medical Research for its discovery. Malignant cells subvert telomerase induction to their advantage, and up-regulation of this enzyme confers these populations with unlimited proliferative potential with obvious detrimental consequences. However this enzyme is also essential for the lifelong maintenance of normal cell populations that have a high rate of turnover. Thymic involution in early adulthood dictates that memory T cell populations have to be maintained by continuous proliferation. This highlights the inherent paradox that telomerase down-regulation in T cells may protect against malignancy yet also lead to replicative exhaustion of repeatedly activated memory T cells. In this article, we review the data on telomerase regulation in T lymphocytes and the implications this has for the maintenance of T cell memory.

Download full-text PDF

Source
http://dx.doi.org/10.4049/jimmunol.178.11.6689DOI Listing

Publication Analysis

Top Keywords

cell populations
8
telomerase
6
telomerase lymphocytes
4
lymphocytes lose
4
lose it?
4
it? enzyme
4
enzyme telomerase
4
telomerase counteracts
4
counteracts telomere
4
telomere loss
4

Similar Publications

Polycomb repressive complex 2 (PRC2), composed of the core subunits EED, SUZ12, and either EZH1 or EZH2, is critical for maintaining cellular identity in multicellular organisms. PRC2 deposits H3K27me3, which is thought to recruit the canonical form of PRC1 (cPRC1) to promote gene repression. Here, we show that EZH1-PRC2 and cPRC1 are the primary Polycomb complexes on target genes in non-dividing, quiescent cells.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

miR-449a/miR-340 reprogram cell identity and metabolism in fusion-negative rhabdomyosarcoma.

Cell Rep

January 2025

Translational Cardiomyology Laboratory, Stem Cell and Developmental Biology, Department of Development and Regeneration, KU Leuven, Herestraat 49, 3000 Leuven, Belgium; Histology and Medical Embryology Unit, Department of Anatomy, Histology, Forensic Medicine and Orthopedics, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy. Electronic address:

Rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS), the most common pediatric soft tissue sarcoma, arises in skeletal muscle and remains in an undifferentiated state due to transcriptional and post-transcriptional regulators. Among its subtypes, fusion-negative RMS (FN-RMS) accounts for the majority of diagnoses in the pediatric population. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are non-coding RNAs that modulate cell identity via post-transcriptional regulation of messenger RNAs (mRNAs).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Rice salt tolerance is highly anticipated to meet global demand in response to decreasing farmland and soil salinization. Therefore, dissecting the genetic loci controlling salt tolerance in rice for improving productivity is of utmost importance. Here, we evaluated six salt-tolerance-related traits of a biparental mapping population comprising 280 F2 rice individuals (Oryza sativa L.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is a major global health concern linked to liver disease and cancer, with research focusing on genetic factors that affect its evolution.
  • Recent studies highlighted the ECM1 gene, specifically two polymorphisms (rs3834087 and rs3754217), which may influence HBV pathogenesis, particularly in an African cohort analyzed in this research.
  • The study found that the heterozygous genotype of rs3754217 appears to protect against chronic hepatitis, suggesting that certain genetic variations may impact the severity of the disease in infected individuals.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Investigating intrauterine exposure to methamphetamine on serine-threonine kinase pathway in male rat testis.

Cell Mol Biol (Noisy-le-grand)

January 2025

Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, Tehran Medical Sciences, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran.

Article Synopsis
  • Intrauterine exposure to methamphetamine (METH) during pregnancy negatively impacts testicular development in offspring, leading to apoptosis in spermatids.
  • Research focused on proteins involved in sperm growth pathways, particularly TSSK and RIPK2, showing significant changes in their expression levels due to METH exposure.
  • Findings indicated that METH exposure resulted in decreased TSSK expression, increased RIPK2 expression, thinner germ layers, more inflammatory cells, and a reduction in the thickness of seminiferous tubules in rat testes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?

Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!