Expression of telomerase reverse transcriptase gene in human epidermal stem cells and its significance

It is well known that the telomerase is present at high levels in embryonic tissues, which plays an important role in replication and proliferation capacity of the stem cells. But the telomerase activity in cultured epidermal stem cells derived from human skins is not fully understood. In this chapter, we focus on the isolation, culture and identification of the epidermal stem cells derived from human fetal skins, and investigating the mRNA and protein expression of telomerase reverse transcriptase in cultured epidermal stem cells. The telomerase activity and the mRNA and protein expression of telomerase reverse transcriptase were determined by using TRAP-ELISA, western blot, immunocytochemical stain and RT-PCR techniques, respectively. The results showed that the cultured epidermal stem cells revealed colony growth. The telomerase activity and the mRNA and protein expression of telomerase reverse transcriptase were positive and in low level in cultured epidermal stem cells. It indicated that the expression of telomerase activity in human epidermal stem cells seems to be directly associated with their proliferation capacity and may play a critical role in overcoming growth limitations of seed cells in tissue engineering skins.