Telomere length in haemopoietic stem cells can be determined from that of mononuclear blood cells or whole blood.
Telomere length can be used to predict the replicative capacity of haematological progenitor cells and may be an important prognostic factor for the onset of cellular immune dysfunction. However, such measurements require invasive bone marrow (BM) biopsies and laborious stem cell isolations that are impractical in a clinical setting. Previous studies have used peripheral blood (PB) cells as an indicator of stem cell telomere length without demonstrating a correlation. In this study, we examined the telomere length in PB, isolated mononuclear cells (MNC) and BM aspirates from each of 19 patients ranging in age from 45 to 81 years. Correlation analysis confirmed that mean telomere length of BM aspirates was equivalent to that of PB (r = 0.85, P < 0.001), or MNC (r = 0.94, P < 0.001). Since BM is a heterogeneous population of cells, we have also shown in 13 separate patients that the mean telomere length in isolated peripheral blood stem cell (PBSC) harvests was equivalent to that of isolated CD34+ stem cells (r = 0.83, P < 0.001). Thus, telomere length in haemopoietic stem cells can be determined from that of whole or fractionated PB in future studies of haematological disorders.
Sakoff
Jennette A
JA
Department of Medical Oncology, Newcastle Mater Misericordiae Hospital, Newcastle, Locked Bag No: 7, Hunter Region Mail Center, 2310, NSW, Australia. mdspa8@alinga.newcastle.edu.au
De Waal
Esther
E
Garg
Madhu B
MB
Denham
James
J
Scorgie
Fiona E
FE
Enno
Arno
A
Lincz
Lisa F
LF
Ackland
Stephen P
SP
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D018952:Antigens, CD34; D001773:Blood Cells / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D001854:Bone Marrow Cells / Q000648:ultrastructure; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D019650:Hematopoietic Stem Cell Mobilization; D006412:Hematopoietic Stem Cells / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D006801:Humans; D007937:Leukapheresis / Q000592:standards*; D007963:Leukocytes, Mononuclear / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D036102:Peripheral Blood Stem Cell Transplantation / Q000592:standards; D011379:Prognosis; D016615:Telomere / Q000648:ultrastructure*
D018952:Antigens, CD34