Abstract
Cultured primary cells exhibit a finite proliferative lifespan, termed the Hayflick limit1. Cloning by nuclear transfer can reverse this cellular ageing process and can be accomplished with cultured cells nearing senescence2. Here we describe nuclear transfer experiments in which donor cell lines at different ages and with different proliferative capacities were used to clone foetuses and animals from which new primary cell lines were generated. The rederived lines had the same proliferative capacity and rate of telomere shortening as the donor cell lines, suggesting that these are innate, genetically determined, properties that are conserved by nuclear transfer.
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Acknowledgements
The authors are grateful for technical support from the nuclear transfer and large animal teams at Roslin. This work was supported by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and the Geron Corporation.
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This work was supported partly by the Geron Corporation, who provided financial support for the work including, in part, the employment cost of the some authors. Additionally, A.J.C. and I.W. are both consultants to and stockholders in the Geron Corporation.
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Clark, A., Ferrier, P., Aslam, S. et al. Proliferative lifespan is conserved after nuclear transfer. Nat Cell Biol 5, 535–538 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1038/ncb992
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ncb992
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