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Updated: Jun 16, 2026
Telomere Length and Telomerase Activity; A Yin and Yang of Cell Senescence
Published on: May 22, 2013
[Telomere length measurement of 10 Chinese patients with bone marrow failure syndrome.]
1Department of Hematology, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Beijing 100730, China.
Objective:
To measure telomere length of patients with bone marrow failure syndrome (BMFS) and explore the relationship between telomerase gene mutation and telomere shortening.
Methods:
Blood samples from 10 patients with AA, MDS-RA were collected and performed TERC and TERT gene mutation analysis. Telomere length was measured by Southern blot and compared with normal controls and two patients with MDS-RAEB and AML each.
Results:
Two patients in the 10 BMFS patients had TERC and TERT gene mutations and very short telomeres compared with normal controls and with the 8 BMFS counterparts, the telomere length was less than 50% of that of normal control, and was similar to that of patients with MDS-RAEB and acute myelogenous leukemia, indicating the possibility of malignant transformation. Some BMFS patients with no mutations also had short telomeres.
Conclusions:
BMFS patients with telomerase gene mutation have very short telomeres, being similar to that of hematological malignancies. Some BMFS patients with no telomerase gene mutations also have short telomere length.
