Journal of Stem Cell Research & Therapy

Abstract

Up-Regulating Telomerase and Tumor Suppression: A Two-Step Strategy to Boost Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation

Fernando Pires Hartwig

The high levels of morbidity and mortality of chronic non-communicable diseases (most of which highly associated with aging) worldwide indicate the need of studying the underlying mechanisms of physiological aging and aging related-impairments and the development and improvement of therapeutic approaches such as cell therapy. In this manuscript, two well-established aging mechanisms – telomere shortening and DNA damage accumulation – are briefly reviewed regarding their roles in hematopoietic stem cells function and transplantation. Based on the available literature, up-regulating both telomerase and tumor suppressors is proposed in a two-step strategy as a promising mechanism to benefit hematopoietic stem cell transplantation qualitatively (by enriching the cell pool for healthy hematopoietic stem cells) and qualitatively (by in vitro expansion of healthy hematopoietic stem cells). The applications, limitations and perspectives associated with the proposed strategy are also discussed.