ArticleImmunity & ageing : I & A2022
Telomerase deficiency reflects age-associated changes in CD4+ T cells.
Article in Immunity & ageing : I & A, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 25 papers.
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Who cites it
25 citing papers in PubMed, 37 citations in OpenAlex.
- T cell senescence and exhaustion: molecular mechanisms and immune rejuvenation for cancer immunotherapy.Signal transduction and targeted therapy · 2026Review
- Respiratory Microbiome Remodeling in Aging: Implications for Immunosenescence and Therapeutic Intervention.Immune network · 2026Review
- Review
- Review
- Immunosenescence in aging and neurodegenerative diseases: evidence, key hallmarks, and therapeutic implications.Translational neurodegeneration · 2025Review
- Article
- Immune cells display an abnormal maturation and a proinflammatory profile in telomere biology disorders.Blood advances · 2025Article
- Targeting immunosenescence and inflammaging: advancing longevity research.Experimental & molecular medicine · 2025Review
- Telomere Length Is Associated With Adverse Atrial Remodeling in Patients With Atrial Fibrillation.Journal of the American Heart Association · 2025Article
- Biological aging of different blood cell types.GeroScience · 2025Article
- Exploring the Link Between Telomeres and Mitochondria: Mechanisms and Implications in Different Cell Types.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Review
- Telomerase RNA component knockout exacerbateseLife · 2024Article
- Recent Advance in Single-Molecule Fluorescent Biosensors for Tumor Biomarker Detection.Biosensors · 2024Review
- Are immunosenescent T cells really senescent?Aging cell · 2024Review
- Ageing microenvironment mediates lymphocyte carcinogenesis and lymphoma drug resistance: From mechanisms to clinical therapy (Review).International journal of oncology · 2024Review
- Causal relationship between telomere length and sepsis: a bidirectional Mendelian randomization study.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Partial loss of Sorting Nexin 27 resembles age- and Down syndrome-associated T cell dysfunctions.Immunity & ageing : I & A · 2024Article
- Deciphering the impact of TERT/telomerase on immunosenescence and T cell revitalization.Frontiers in immunology · 2024Review
- Age-associated changes in innate and adaptive immunity: role of the gut microbiota.Frontiers in immunology · 2024Review
- Chronic inflammation and the hallmarks of aging.Molecular metabolism · 2023Review
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundAmongst other systemic changes, aging leads to an immune dysfunction. On the molecular level, a hallmark of aging is telomere shortening. The functional relevance of telomerase, an enzyme capable of elongating telomeres in T cells upon antigen stimulation, is not fully understood. Studying the impact of telomere shortening on CD4+ T cells and especially Th1 effector function can provide a better understanding on immune dysfunctions in elderly.
resultsWe investigated T cell numbers and differentiation in telomerase-deficient (mTerc-/-) mice under steady-state conditions and the functional role of telomerase in CD4+ T cells using in vitro stimulation and Th1 polarization protocols by comparing T cells from mTerc-/- and control mice. We report reduced relative CD4+ T cell numbers in blood and secondary lymphoid organs and a relative decline in the naïve T cell population in thymus, blood and spleen of mTerc-/- mice compared to control mice. Importantly, after in vitro polarization, mTerc-/- G3 CD4+ T cells showed higher numbers of IFNγ-producing cells and reduced expression of CD28. Notably, telomerase-deficient T cells were more susceptible to inhibition of Th1 polarization by IL-6 in vitro. These results demonstrate that telomerase deficiency recapitulates several changes of CD4+ T cells seen in aged humans regarding the naïve T cell population, expression of CD28 and cytokine production.
conclusionOur data suggest that telomere shortening could play a key role in the aging of T cell immunity, with clinical implications for immune diseases and tumor development and that mTerc-/- mice are a suitable model to study aging-related defects of adaptive immunity.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.