Cited by 471Telomeres, Telomerase, and SenescenceGenetics, Aging, and Longevity in Model OrganismsNuclear Structure and Function

Disease states associated with telomerase deficiency appear earlier in mice with short telomeres

Open access
Herrera, Eloísa, Samper, Enrique, Martín‐Caballero, Juan, Flores, Juana M., Lee, Han‐Woong, Blasco, María A.·1999·The EMBO Journal

Abstract

Mice deficient for the mouse telomerase RNA (mTR-/-) and lacking telomerase activity can only be bred for approximately six generations due to decreased male and female fertility and to an increased embryonic lethality associated with a neural tube closure defect. Although late generation mTR-/- mice show defects in the hematopoietic system, they are viable to adulthood, only showing a decrease in viability in old age. To assess the contribution of genetic background to the effect of telomerase deficiency on viability, we generated mTR-/- mutants on a C57BL6 background, which showed shorter telomeres than the original mixed genetic background C57BL6/129Sv. Interestingly, these mice could be bred for only four generations and the survival of late generation mTR-/- mice decreased dramatically with age as compared with their wild-type counterparts. Fifty percent of the generation 4 mice die at only 5 months of age. This decreased viability with age in the late generation mice is coincident with telomere shortening, sterility, splenic atrophy, reduced proliferative capacity of B and T cells, abnormal hematology and atrophy of the small intestine. These results indicate that telomere shortening in mTR-/- mice leads to progressive loss of organismal viability.

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Crossref · 10.1093/emboj/18.11.2950

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46 of 46 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

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  • p21 participates in the p53-dependent telomere checkpoint response in human fibroblasts and in TERC-/- mice.

    “However, the cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor p21 has been shown to participate in the p53-dependent telomere checkpoint response in both human fibroblasts and in TERCÀ/À mice (66,76).”

    From Telomeres and telomerase in cancer (2010) · cites this paper as [76]

  • Tissues with rapid cell turnover are especially sensitive to telomere length.

    “Although it was initially clear that high-turnover tissues are particularly sensitive to telomere length85,101,112”

    From The telomere syndromes (2012) · cites this paper as [112]

  • Mice carrying a homozygous germline deletion of the telomerase RNA component gene (Terc−/−) exhibit critically short telomeres and premature development of age-related pathologies from the second or third generation.

    “In particular, mice carrying a homozygous germline deletion of the telomerase RNA component gene (Terc−/−) exhibit critically short telomeres and a premature development of age-related pathologies from the second or third generation [8, 18–20, 51, 70, 72, 101, 103]”
  • Short telomeres result in multiple organismal defects caused by defective tissue regeneration.

    “the generation and characterization of the telomerase knockout mouse model has been instrumental in demonstrating that short telomeres result in multiple organismal defects caused by defective tissue regeneration 57, 58, 59”

    From The common biology of cancer and ageing (2007) · cites this paper as [59]

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Research works printed but not linked: 2

  1. Smith CA, Andrews CM, Collard JK, Hall DE, Walker AK and Wolfe M (1994) Color Atlas of Comparative Diagnostic and Experimental Hematology. Wolfe Publishing, London, UK.
  2. Stevens A and Lowe J (1997) Human Histology, 2nd Edn. Times Mirror International Publishers Ltd, UK.

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Authors
Herrera, E., Samper, E., Martín‐Caballero, J., Flores, J. M., Lee, H., & Blasco, M. A.
Affiliations
  • Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (ES)
  • Universidad Complutense de Madrid (ES)
  • Samsung Biomedical Research Institute (KR)
Corresponding author
Blasco, María A.
Venue
The EMBO Journal
Published
1999-06-01
Volume
18
Issue
11
Pages
2950-2960
ISSN
  • 0261-4189 (ISSN-L)
  • 1460-2075
OpenAlex
W2153094950
Cited by
471
References
45
Citations by year
2026: 6 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 8 · 2023: 15 · 2022: 14 · 2021: 13 · 2020: 11 · 2019: 15 · 2018: 15 · 2017: 15 · 2016: 14 · 2015: 9 · 2014: 18 · 2013: 20 · 2012: 20
FWCI
14.72
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • The EMBO Journal (publishedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
European Molecular Biology Organization
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Telomeres, Telomerase, and Senescence
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Aging › Genetics, Aging, and Longevity in Model Organisms
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Nuclear Structure and Function
Keywords
telomerase deficiency, telomere shortening, genetic background effects, age-related mortality, fertility, embryonic lethality, neural tube defects, hematopoietic defects, splenic atrophy, hematological abnormalities
MeSH terms
Aging, Animals, Atrophy, Body Weight, Cells, Cultured, Crosses, Genetic, Female, Genes, Lethal, Hematopoietic System, Infertility, Intestine, Small, Leukocyte Count, Longevity, Lymphocytes, Male, Mice, Inbred C57BL, Spleen, Testis, Time Factors, Telomere, Mice, Knockout, Telomerase, Mice

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