Expression of human telomerase in ectomesenchymal stem cells of early embryonic facial process

    DENG Manª²Jing1, JIN Yan2, SHI Junª²Nan1, DONG Rui2, HE Daª²Wei2

    1Department of Operative Dentistry, 2Department of Oral Histopathology, College of Stomatology, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi¡¯an 710033, China

    ¡¾Abstract¡¿ AIM: To evaluate the activity of telomerase in ectomesenchymal stem cells of early embryonic facial process. METHODS: Ectomesenchymal stem cells of early human embryonic facial process were isolated and cultured in undifferentiated conditions by supplementing with leukemia inhibitor factor (LIF). Immunohistochemistry assay and image analysis were used to detect the expression extent of human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) when cells were passaged for 1, 8, 15 and 22 times. Cells without LIF for 10 days were also evaluated. RESULTS: Ectomesenchymal stem cells expressed hTERT. The expression extent of hTERT decreased with the increasing times of passages. The differentiated cells didn't express hTERT. CONCLUSION: Though ectomesenchymal stem cells of early embryonic facial process have somewhat high telomerase activity, the telomerase activity at this level is not enough to prevent cells from senescence. ......