Proteomic and transcriptomic analysis of human CD8+ T lymphocytes over-expressing telomerase

Telomerase activation in the treatment of aging or degenerative diseases: a systematic review

Telomeres are protective structures that are shortened during the lifetime, resulting in aging and degenerative diseases. Subjects experiencing aging and degenerative disorders present smaller telomeres than young and healthy ones. The size of these structures can be stabilized by telomerase, an enzyme which is inactive in adult tissues but functional in fetal and newborn tissues and adult testes and ovaries. The aim of this study was to perform a systematic review to evaluate the effect of telomerase activation in the treatment of degenerative and aging disorders. We accomplished the search using the Pubmed interface for papers published from September 1985 to April 16th, 2020. We found twenty one studies that matched our eligibility criteria. I concluded that telomerase is probably a potential and safe treatment for aging and degenerative diseases, demonstrating neither side effects nor risk of cancer in the selected studies. Further studies in humans are needed to confirm safety and efficiency of this treatment.

Telomeres and telomerase in T cells of tumor immunity

Telomeres are specific nucleoprotein structures at the end of a eukaryotic chromosomes characterized by repeats of the sequence TTAGGG and regulated by the enzyme telomerase which prevents their degradation, loss, rearrangement and end-to-end fusion. During activation, T lymphocytes actively divide, albeit through only a finite number of cell divisions due to shortening of telomeres. However, studies have demonstrated that human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT), thought to be the major component regulating telomerase activity, can enhance the proliferation of T cells when overexpressed. There are many treatments for cancers, most of which are targeting the telomere and telomerase of tumor cells. However, the hTERT-transduced T cells improve their potential for proliferation, making them an appropriate cell resource for tumor adoptive immunotherapy, a procedure whereby T cells are isolated from patients, expanded ex vivo and eventually delivered back into the patients, provides a new approach for tumor therapy through improved overall survival rates in cancer patients. In this review, we will focus on the telomerase activity in T cells, the regulation of telomerase activity, and hTERT-transduced T cells used in adoptive immunotherapy for cancer.

Methods for human CD8(+) T lymphocyte proteome analysis

T lymphocytes, including cytotoxic CD8(+) T cells, are important cells involved in immunology, as they can destroy infected or tumor cells. We describe here a detailed protocol starting from CD8(+) T lymphocytes isolation for T cell culture followed by total protein extraction or subcellular fractionation, like nuclei isolation. We also describe well-defined biochemistry and cell biology methods adapted to T lymphocytes, showing the importance of using the method best suited to answering the question addressed. All these techniques would be very helpful to immunologists willing to study underlying biological processes related to T lymphocytes.