Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 24, 2026

Utilizing Murine Inducible Telomerase Alleles in the Studies of Tissue Degeneration/Regeneration and Cancer
Published on: April 13, 2015
Essential role for telomerase in chronic myeloid leukemia induced by BCR-ABL in mice
Carolina Vicente-Dueñas1, Marcos Barajas-Diego, Isabel Romero-Camarero
1Experimental Therapeutics and Translational Oncology Program, Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular del Cáncer, CSIC/ Universidad de Salamanca, SALAMANCA, SPAIN.
Abstract:
The telomerase protein is constitutively activated in malignant cells from many patients with cancer, including the chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), but whether telomerase is essential for the pathogenesis of this disease is not known. Here, we used telomerase deficient mice to determine the requirement for telomerase in CML induced by BCR-ABL in mouse models of CML. Loss of one telomerase allele or complete deletion of telomerase prevented the development of leukemia induced by BCR-ABL. However, BCR-ABL was expressed and active in telomerase heterozygous and null leukemic hematopoietic stem cells. These results demonstrate that telomerase is essential for oncogene-induced reprogramming of hematopoietic stem cells in CML development and validate telomerase and the genes it regulates as targets for therapy in CML.
Related Concept Videos
Replicative Cell Senescence
Telomeres and Telomerase
Abnormal Proliferation

