Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 24, 2025

Utilizing Murine Inducible Telomerase Alleles in the Studies of Tissue Degeneration/Regeneration and Cancer
Published on: April 13, 2015
Telomeres and Telomerase in the Control of Stem Cells
Alexey Yu Lupatov1, Konstantin N Yarygin1
1Cell Biology Laboratory, Institute of Biomedical Chemistry, Pogodinskaya 10, 119121 Moscow, Russia.
Abstract:
Stem cells serve as a source of cellular material in embryogenesis and postnatal growth and regeneration. This requires significant proliferative potential ensured by sufficient telomere length. Telomere attrition in the stem cells and their niche cells can result in the exhaustion of the regenerative potential of high-turnover organs, causing or contributing to the onset of age-related diseases. In this review, stem cells are examined in the context of the current telomere-centric theory of cell aging, which assumes that telomere shortening depends not just on the number of cell doublings (mitotic clock) but also on the influence of various internal and external factors. The influence of the telomerase and telomere length on the functional activity of different stem cell types, as well as on their aging and prospects of use in cell therapy applications, is discussed.
Related Concept Videos
Telomeres and Telomerase
Maintenance of the ES Cell State
Replicative Cell Senescence
Replication in Eukaryotes
Many Proteins Orchestrate Replication at the Origin
Eukaryotic replication follows many of the same...
Regulation of Hematopoietic Stem Cells
Multipotency of Hematopoietic Stem Cells

