What does Telomerase have to do with Immortality? Are stem cells responsible for producing telomerase? Are the "glandular secretions" produced by the menstrum used by the pituitary and pineal glands to make melatonin and serotonin? Do these two hormones in turn produce DMT, the "spirit molecule" released during states of bliss?
Can taking a 'Telomerase' enzyme pill reduce speed of aging?
http://www.madsci.org/posts/archives/20 ... .Cb.r.html
Telomeres are stretches of repetitive DNA at the ends of chromosomes that allow faithful DNA replication by acting as primers for lagging-strand synthesis. As mentioned in the preceding link, each replication shortens the telomeres, until eventually they disappear and subsequent replications begin to chew away at the ends of the chromosomes. To counteract this loss, replicating cells contain an enzyme called telomerase which re-lengthens the telomeres between replications. They found that cells with activated telomerase could grow in culture indefinitely.
Telomerase- the End of Cancer?
http://www.accessexcellence.org/WN/SUA04/telomerase.php
"Telomerase appears to be stringently repressed in normal human somatic tissues but reactivated in cancer, where immortal cells are likely required to maintain tumor growth," the researchers report in a recent issue of Science.
Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCA) - Xeroxing DNA
http://www.accessexcellence.org/RC/AB/I ... ng_DNA.php
In nature, most organisms copy their DNA in the same way. The PCR mimics this process, only it does it in a test tube. When any cell divides, enzymes called polymerases make a copy of all the DNA in each chromosome. The first step in this process is to "unzip" the two DNA chains of the double helix. As the two strands separate, DNA polymerase makes a copy using each strand as a template. A PCR vial contains all the necessary components for DNA duplication: a piece of DNA, large quantities of the four nucleotides, large quantities of the primer sequence, and DNA polymerase.
Nanoparticles Detect Telomerase Enzyme Activity
http://www.nano.org.uk/news/july2008/latest1500.htm
Telomerase, an enzyme that prevents chromosomes from shortening when they divide, is widely suspected of playing a key role in making cancer cells immortal. Though researchers have developed a variety of methods for measuring the activity of this enzyme, none of these methods have proved suitable for use in diagnostic assays for cancer or in efforts to develop drugs that block telomerase activity.
Comprehensive Lifestyle Changes Improve Levels of Enzyme Telomerase Involved In Cell Ageing
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/121479.php
Telomeres are DNA-protein complexes at the end of chromosomes that directly affect how quickly cells age-they protect the ends of chromosomes and help them remain stable. As telomeres become shorter and their structural integrity weakens, then cells age and die more quickly.
Telomerase enzyme activation and human cell immortalization
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10022230
Activity of telomerase, the enzyme that synthesizes the telomere ends of linear eukaryotic chromosomes, is repressed in most normal human somatic cells but induced in most human cancers. Normal human cells that lack telomerase activity progressively lose telomere sequences. In contrast, most immortalized cell lines and malignant human tumors appear to maintain constant telomere length via telomerase activity.
Telomerase: The 'Immortalizing' Enzyme:
http://www.lef.org/anti-aging/telomer1.htm
One of the major breakthroughs made by Geron scientists is the discovery of the function of telomeres, (structures at the ends of chromosomes comprised of hundreds to thousands of tandem repeats of the nucelotide sequence TTAGGG) and the role of the enzyme telomerase in maintaining the integrity of these telomeres.
While it's true that telomerase is present in the male germ cell line it is not known whether telomerase is present in the female germ cell line (women have all their egg cells at birth).
Is telomerase present in both the female and the male germ cells?
Preservation of fertility in nature and ART
http://www.reproduction-online.org/cgi/ ... 23/1/3.pdf
Mammalian chromosomes have repeated DNA sequences at their ends – TTAGGG(n) – known as telomeres, which shorten by some 50–200 base pairs during every cell cycle. The so-called ‘immortal’ cell types, germ cells and tumour stem cells, are thought to gain genomic stability in part by expressing more telomerase, a ribonucleoprotein that replaces lost telomeres. Telomerase is developmentally regulated, and is more abundant in
spermatogonia and growing oocytes than at later stages of gametogenesis, and is virtually absent in mature gametes.
Expression of Telomerase Reverse Transcriptase Subunit (TERT) and Telomere Sizing in Pig Ovarian Follicles
http://www.jhc.org/cgi/content/full/54/4/443
Telomerase is crucial for chromosome stability because it maintains telomere length. Little is known about telomerase in ovarian follicles, where an intense cell division is crucial to sustain estrous cycle and to drive oocyte development.
In fact, in antral follicles, only the cumulus cells and most of the antral layer granulosa cells were positive to the anti-TERT antibody. These data seem to confirm that some granulosa cells are stem-like cells.
Is telomerase found in the placenta, endometrial tissue or menstrum as Laurence Gardner suggests?
A Prospective, Randomized Study of Endometrial Telomerase during the Menstrual Cycle
http://jcem.endojournals.org/cgi/content/full/86/8/3912
In conclusion, endometrial telomerase activity is dynamic: high during the proliferative phase but inhibited during the midsecretory phase of the menstrual cycle. The timing of expression coincides with the rise and fall of progesterone levels and the time period of maximal uterine receptivity for embryo implantation. This supports a relationship between sex steroid levels and telomerase regulation.
Cryopreserve Your Menstral Stem Cells
http://www.marymeetsdolly.com/blog/inde ... cells.html
C'elle menstrual stem cells are adult stem cells but with many properties associated with both embryonic stem cells and mesenchymal stem cells (a highly potent adult stem cell in therapeutic use today derived from connective tissue). C'elle menstrual stem cells have demonstrated the capability in preliminary research to differentiate into other cell types, such as nervous system, heart, bone, fat and cartilage cells. The Company believes C'elle menstrual stem cells will have a significant impact on regenerative medicine.
Endometrial glands as a source of nutrients, growth factors and cytokines during the first trimester of human pregnancy: A morphological and immunohistochemical study
http://www.rbej.com/content/2/1/58
Morphologically the endometrial glands are best developed and most active during early human pregnancy. The glands gradually regress over the first trimester, but still communicate with the intervillous space until at least 10 weeks. Hence, they could provide an important source of nutrients, growth factors and cytokines for the feto-placental unit. The endometrium may therefore play a greater role in regulating placental growth and differentiation post-implantation than previously appreciated.
The Role of the Endometrium During the First Trimester
http://www.mdconsult.com/das/book/body/ ... 28/10.html
Signals from the uterine epithelium and secretions from the endometrial glands play a major role in regulating receptivity at the time of implantation, but the potential contribution of the glands to fetal development once implantation is complete has largely been ignored.
The Placenta
http://www.courseweb.uottawa.ca/medicin ... efault.htm
The placenta is a temporary organ required for the development of the embryo and fetus. It allows for the exchange of metabolic products between the fetus and the mother. The placenta functions in metabolism, in the transport of substances and in endocrine secretion.
Is telomerase production a function of stem cells?
Gene Deletion Ages Mice More Rapidly
http://www.futurepundit.com/archives/004306.html
This gene, ATR, is essential for the body’s response to damaged DNA, and mutations in proteins in the DNA damage response underlie certain types of cancer and other disorders in humans. This work appears in the inaugural issue of Cell Stem Cell.
To be able to renew itself, most tissues have a reservoir of specific adult stem cells. These stem cells don’t divide as frequently as other cell types since they need to maintain the integrity of their DNA, and multiple divisions lead to natural breaks in DNA. But when these stem cells are needed, their progeny can rapidly divide and are able to replenish the tissue with new cells.
As we age our stem cells age right along with the rest of us. Aged stem cells gradually slow down and lose their ability to create replacement cells to repair damage caused by aging. As the repair systems slow down more damage accumulates and we get older.
This study supports the notion that replacement of aged stem cells with youthful stem cells will help slow and even reverse the process of aging. The development of the ability to create the various adult stem cell types is a crucial step in the development of full body rejuvenation therapies.
Evaluating Human Embryonic Germ Cells: Concord and Conflict as Pluripotent Stem Cells
http://stemcells.alphamedpress.org/cgi/ ... l/24/2/212
In mammalian biology, two clear sources of untransformed pluripotent stem cell have been described. The inner cell mass (ICM) of the early embryo gives rise to the derivatives of all three germ layers in the developing embryo.
Germ cells are the sole means of transmitting genetic information to the next generation in their ultimate form as haploid gametes, spermatozoa, and ova. However, before meiosis, these cells exist as diploid primordial germ cells (PGCs). PGCs share significant similarities to the cells of the ICM and, once taken into in vitro culture, can lead to the generation of embryonic germ cells (EGCs), the parallel of ESCs.
Discovery Could Help Reprogram Adult Cells to Embryonic Stem Cell-like State
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/20 ... 130617.htm
Konrad Hochedlinger and colleagues report that they have discovered how long adult cells need to be exposed to reprogramming factors before they convert to an embryonic-like state, and have “defined the sequence of events that occur during reprogramming.”
Producing primate embryonic stem cells by somatic cell nuclear transfer
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v4 ... 06357.html
Derivation of embryonic stem (ES) cells genetically identical to a patient by somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) holds the potential to cure or alleviate the symptoms of many degenerative diseases while circumventing concerns regarding rejection by the host immune system. DNA analysis confirmed that nuclear DNA was identical to donor somatic cells and that mitochondrial DNA originated from oocytes.
Embryonic Stem Cell Lines from Somatic Cell Nuclei via Nuclear Transfer
http://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/jmo ... 2/_article
The progress of nuclear transfer technology, we can create cloned animals. And recently from this same technology we can possible to establish nuclear transfer embryonic stem cells (ntES cell). From our experiments we can establish mouse ntES cells, which any kind of cell type and strain and sex. And ntES cell has very similar ability like ES cells that has capacities for in vitro differentiation and in vivo germline transmission. The ntES cell made from donor somatic cells, which are very useful for therapeutic cloning.