Telomerase expression marks transitional growth‐associated skeletal progenitor/stem cells. (13th January 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Carlone, Diana L.; Riba‐Wolman, Rebecca D.; Deary, Luke T.; Tovaglieri, Alessio; Jiang, Lijie; Ambruzs, Dana M.; Mead, Benjamin E.; Shah, Manasvi S.; Lengner, Christopher J.; Jaenisch, Rudolf; Breault, David T.
• Is Part Of: Stem cells. Volume 39:Number 3(2021)
• Page Start: 296
• Page End: 305
• Publication Date: 2021-01-13
• Subjects: mTert -- pluripotent -- postnatal bone growth -- skeletal stem cells -- telomerase; Cloning -- Periodicals; Clone cells -- Periodicals; Stem cells -- Periodicals; Cell Differentiation -- Periodicals; Cell Division -- Periodicals; Clone Cells -- Periodicals; Hematopoietic Stem Cells -- Periodicals; Stem Cells -- Periodicals; 571.84
• DOI: 10.1002/stem.3318
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1066-5099

Abstract

Abstract: Skeletal progenitor/stem cells (SSCs) play a critical role in postnatal bone growth and maintenance. Telomerase ( Tert ) activity prevents cellular senescence and is required for maintenance of stem cells in self‐renewing tissues. Here we investigated the role of mTert ‐expressing cells in postnatal mouse long bone and found that mTert expression is enriched at the time of adolescent bone growth. mTert ‐GFP + cells were identified in regions known to house SSCs, including the metaphyseal stroma, growth plate, and the bone marrow. We also show that mTert ‐expressing cells are a distinct SSC population with enriched colony‐forming capacity and contribute to multiple mesenchymal lineages, in vitro. In contrast, in vivo lineage‐tracing studies identified mTert + cells as osteochondral progenitors and contribute to the bone‐forming cell pool during endochondral bone growth with a subset persisting into adulthood. Taken together, our results show that mTert expression is temporally regulated and marks SSCs during a discrete phase of transitional growth between rapid bone growth and maintenance. Abstract : In long bones, osteochondral progenitor cells function during rapid bone growth while osteoadipogenic progenitors act during bone maintenance. We showed that mTert is expressed in an age‐dependent manner and marks growth‐associated osteochondral progenitor cells during transitional growth, a discrete time period between rapid bone growth and bone maintenance.