Telomerase extends a helping hand to progenitor cells

The idea of a cell-based regeneration therapy for controlling or curing chronic human diseases is highly attractive. However, realization of this idea in the clinic has been hampered by the safety concerns associated with the transplantation of immortalized cells into human patients. An elegant study done by Roy and colleagues shows that neural progenitor cells immortalized by the ectopic expression of telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) can give rise to specific types of functionally competent neurons both in vitro and in vivo. Importantly, the immortalized progenitors maintained their phenotype with no evidence of transformation even several months after transplantation in mouse disease models. Although the potential use of telomerase-immortalized cells in the clinic remains controversial, Roy and colleagues work provides a compelling reason to seriously evaluate the potential use of telomerase-immortalized progenitor cells to treat neurodegenerative and other chronic human illnesses.