ArticleNature cell biology2022
An intercellular transfer of telomeres rescues T cells from senescence and promotes long-term immunological memory.
Article in Nature cell biology, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 97 papers.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
97 citing papers in PubMed, 150 citations in OpenAlex.
- T cell senescence and exhaustion: molecular mechanisms and immune rejuvenation for cancer immunotherapy.Signal transduction and targeted therapy · 2026Review
- The ageing holobiont: crosstalk between telomere dynamics, oxidative stress and the gut microbiome.Biological reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society · 2026Review
- Article
- The ageing immune system as a driver of systemic ageing.Nature reviews. Immunology · 2026Review
- Immunological consequences of senescence in physiology and pathology.Journal of translational medicine · 2026Review
- Insights into the therapeutic strategies for aging and aging-associated diseases.Signal transduction and targeted therapy · 2026Review
- Epigenetic-Metabolic interplay in chronic kidney disease mortality: insights from grimage acceleration and transcriptomic profiling.Clinical epigenetics · 2026Article
- Activated T cell extracellular vesicle DNA transfer enhances antigen presentation and anti-tumor immunity.Cancer cell · 2026Article
- Research progress on blood therapy for anti-aging.Journal of advanced research · 2026Review
- Cancer and aging: complex associations and therapeutic targets.Molecular biomedicine · 2026Review
- Persistent antigen is essential for sustainingScience advances · 2026Article
- Donor leukocyte telomere length emerges as a prognostic factor for transplantation outcomes.Innovation (Cambridge (Mass.)) · 2026Article
- Engineering Immune Cell to Counteract Aging and Aging-Associated Diseases.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2026Review
- Advancing Extracellular Vesicle Research: A Review of Systems Biology and Multiomics Perspectives.Proteomics · 2026Review
- Telomerase-active urine-derived stem cells: Regenerative solutions for aging.Ageing research reviews · 2026Review
- Review
- Tumor Microenvironment Onmyoji: Cytokines with Dual Protumor and Antitumor Roles.Cancer communications (London, England) · 2026Review
- Review
- The complicated relationship between inflammation and metabolic dysfunction.Journal of diabetes and metabolic disorders · 2025Review
- Is Telomere Length Optimized in Hatchling Sand Lizards?Evolution & development · 2025Article
37 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
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Authors and funding
15 authors at 7 institutions in 4 countries.
Funding
Abstract
The common view is that T lymphocytes activate telomerase to delay senescence. Here we show that some T cells (primarily naïve and central memory cells) elongated telomeres by acquiring telomere vesicles from antigen-presenting cells (APCs) independently of telomerase action. Upon contact with these T cells, APCs degraded shelterin to donate telomeres, which were cleaved by the telomere trimming factor TZAP, and then transferred in extracellular vesicles at the immunological synapse. Telomere vesicles retained the Rad51 recombination factor that enabled telomere fusion with T-cell chromosome ends lengthening them by an average of ~3,000 base pairs. Thus, there are antigen-specific populations of T cells whose ageing fate decisions are based on telomere vesicle transfer upon initial contact with APCs. These telomere-acquiring T cells are protected from senescence before clonal division begins, conferring long-lasting immune protection.
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Registered trials
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.