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The use of telomerized cells for tissue engineering

Nature Biotechnology volume 18, pages 22–23 (2000)Cite this article

Tissue and organ failure are major health problems. Surgical repair, artificial prostheses, mechanical devices, and both human and xenograph organ transplantation continue to be important in medical treatment of certain human diseases1. However, the field of tissue engineering, involving the reprogramming of pluripotent stem cells or rejuvenation of specific differentiated cells, is emerging as a promising alternative. The eventual goal is to be able to take a patient's own cells, expand them in a laboratory environment, genetically engineer them to correct a particular defect, and then reintroduce them into the patient in a form that permits the cells to function in a tissue-specific manner. In this issue of Nature Biotechnology, Thomas et al. provide data that supports the feasibility of a first step in this direction2.

Normal cells divide a limited number of times before they undergo growth arrest, often referred to as replicative senescence. Telomerase is a cellular ribonucleoprotein reverse transcriptase that adds telomeric DNA to the ends of chromosomes to compensate for the inevitable losses that occur during replication. The hypothesis that progressive telomere shortening could be the counting mechanism for replicative senescence was recently strengthened by the demonstration that expression of the catalytic protein component of telomerase (hTERT) could prevent growth arrest and immortalize human fibroblasts and epithelial cells3. Moreover, telomerase is present in specialized reproductive cells and almost all cancer cells that appear to divide indefinitely4. Although telomerase is present in proliferative stem cells of renewal tissues, its level is apparently insufficient to fully maintain telomere length, since these tissues show gradual telomere shortening throughout life.

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Figure 1: Bovine adrenocortical cells were established in culture and transfected with SV40 large T-antigen and the catalytic protein component of telomerase (hTERT).

References

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. department of cell biology, University of Texas, Southwestern Medical Center, 5323 Harry Hines Boulevard , Dallas, 75390-9039, TX

    Jerry W. Shay & Woodring E. Wright

  2. Ellison Medical Foundation, Bethesda , MD

    Jerry W. Shay & Woodring E. Wright

Authors
  1. Jerry W. Shay
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  2. Woodring E. Wright
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Shay, J., Wright, W. The use of telomerized cells for tissue engineering. Nat Biotechnol 18, 22–23 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1038/71872

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