title: The germline/soma dichotomy: implications for aging and degenerative disease.
abstract: Human somatic cells are mortal due in large part to telomere shortening associated with cell division. Limited proliferative capacity may, in turn, limit response to injury and may play an important role in the etiology of age-related pathology. Pluripotent stem cells cultured in vitro appear to maintain long telomere length through relatively high levels of telomerase activity. We propose that the induced reversal of cell aging by transcriptional reprogramming, or alternatively, human embryonic stem cells engineered to escape immune surveillance, are effective platforms for the industrial-scale manufacture of young cells for the treatment of age-related pathologies. Such cell-based regenerative therapies will require newer manufacturing and delivery technologies to insure highly pure, identified and potent pluripotency-based therapeutic formulations.
authors.affiliation: BioTime, Inc., 1010 Atlantic Ave., Alameda, CA 94501, USA.
authors.forename: Michael D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: West
authors.affiliation: ReCyte Therapeutics, Alameda, CA 94502, USA.
authors.forename: Francois
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Binette
authors.affiliation: OncoCyte Corporation, Alameda, CA 94502, USA.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Larocca
authors.affiliation: OncoCyte Corporation, Alameda, CA 94502, USA.
authors.forename: Karen B
authors.initials: KB
authors.lastname: Chapman
authors.affiliation: Cell Cure Neurosciences, Jerusalem, Israel.
authors.forename: Charles
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Irving
authors.affiliation: BioTime, Inc., 1010 Atlantic Ave., Alameda, CA 94501, USA.
authors.forename: Hal
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sternberg
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging / Q000378:metabolism*; D060846:Cell Engineering / Q000379:methods*; D065150:Cellular Reprogramming; D000066449:Human Embryonic Stem Cells / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D044968:Regenerative Medicine / Q000379:methods*; D059505:Telomere Homeostasis
keywords: age-related macular degeneration; aging; bone; brown adipose tissue; cartilage; choroid plexus; clonal embryonic progenitor cells; embryonic stem cells; endothelial progenitor cells; pluripotent stem cells