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Telomerase expression in the mammalian heart
Gavin D Richardson1, David Breault, Grace Horrocks
1Institute of Genetic Medicine, International Centre for Life, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 3BZ, UK. gavin.richardson2@ncl.ac.uk
Summary
Researchers identified rare cardiac cells expressing telomerase reverse transcriptase (Tert) responsible for heart telomerase activity. These cells decline with age but increase after injury, suggesting potential for cardiac regeneration.
Area of Science:
- Cardiology
- Molecular Biology
- Stem Cell Biology
Background:
- Mammalian hearts exhibit low but functionally significant telomerase expression.
- The specific cell types responsible for cardiac telomerase activity are not well-defined.
Purpose of the Study:
- To identify cardiac cell populations responsible for telomerase activity in neonatal, adult, and cryoinjured adult hearts.
- To characterize the phenotype and behavior of these telomerase-expressing cells.
Main Methods:
- Utilized transgenic mice with green fluorescent protein (GFP) reporter driven by the murine telomerase reverse transcriptase (mTert) promoter.
- Employed flow cytometry and immunofluorescence for cell quantification and characterization.
- Analyzed hearts from neonatal, adult, and cryoinjured adult mice.
Main Results:
- Identified a rare population of mTert-GFP-expressing cells with cardiac telomerase activity.
- These cells are heterogeneous, expressing markers of cardiomyocytic, endothelial, mesenchymal, and stem cell lineages, as well as differentiated cardiomyocytes.
- Observed a significant age-dependent decline in mTert-GFP cells (approx. 9-20 fold).
- Cardiac injury led to a significant expansion (approx. 6.45 fold) of this cell population compared to controls.
Conclusions:
- This study pinpoints the cells responsible for cardiac telomerase activity.
- Cardiac telomerase activity significantly diminishes with age but shows a marked response to injury.
- These findings suggest that telomerase-expressing cells are a potential target for investigating cardiac regenerative potential.
