Telomerase activity in lens epithelial cells of normal and cataractous lenses

Telomerase is a ribonucleoprotein responsible for maintaining telomere length, preventing chromosomal degradation and recombination, and repairing DNA strand breaks. These activities are believed to be important in preventing cell senescence. Telomerase activity is normally found in germinal, neoplastic and stem cells, but not any ocular tissue studied to date. The epithelium of the crystalline lens is comprised of a population of cells with diverse mitotic potential including the germinative epithelium which contains cells with the potential for unlimited replicative capacity, equatorial cells which terminally differentiate into lens fibers, and the central epithelium which are considered to be quiescent and nonreplicative under normal circumstances. We speculated that the germinative region of lens epithelial cells might have telomerase activity, and that dysregulation of its activity might be associated with cataractogenesis. We investigated these hypotheses in lens capsule specimens from normal and cataractous dogs and from cultures of canine lens epithelial cells using standard assays for telomerase activity and telomere length. Telomerase activity was found in normal canine lens epithelial cells in the central, germinative and equatorial regions of the anterior lens capsule at equivalent levels. Similar findings were made in feline and murine lens epithelial cells, indicating that the presence of telomerase activity in the lens was not species specific. Lens fiber cells, corneal epithelium and endothelium and nonpigmented ciliary epithelium were telomerase negative. Telomerase activity and telomere lengths were significantly greater in lens epithelia from cataractous lenses when compared with normal lenses. Since telomerase activity is associated with an immortal phenotype, the presence of telomerase activity in the lens epithelial cells may function to prevent conversion to senescence. It was, therefore, difficult to explain why these cells cannot be passaged more than four times in culture. We found that telomerase activity and telomere lengths gradually decreased with increased passages until telomerase activity was no longer present at passage two. Consistent with these findings, there were no senescent cells present on the lens capsule when the lens was initially dissected for culture, but an increasing number of cells were senescent with each passage, correlating well with the loss of telomerase activity. Telomerase activity is likely important in the germinative epithelium to maintain its proliferative potential and prevent cell senescence. Telomerase may function in the quiescent, central lens to maintain telomeres damaged by oxidative stress and ultraviolet light exposure, thereby preventing accelerated loss of these elements which triggers cell senescence. It remains to be determined if the increase in telomerase activity in lens epithelial cells from cataractous lenses is a primary dysregulation that may have a role in the development of the cataract, or is secondary to cataract formation.