Flores, et al. The longest telomeres: a general signature of adult stem cell compartments. Genes Dev. 2008; 22(5): 654–667

.....In summary, these findings demonstrate a hierarchical organization of cells of a common origin within tissues according to their telomere length in all organs examined so far (skin, small intestine, cornea, testis, and brain), with the longest telomeres generally marking the most primitive adult stem cell compartments and the shortest telomeres in the more differentiated compartments within a given tissue. Of note, the rate of telomere shortening within a given tissue appeared larger than expected from mere cell division, which may reflect on active telomere degradation mechanisms associated with differentiation, something that remains unexplored to date. Since cell hierarchies are general features of almost all adult organs, identification of the longest telomeres may represent a novel general marker of adult stem cell compartments, which combined with current ways to identify stem cells such as the so-called “label-retaining techniques” may be useful in identifying new stem cell compartments. Finally, we make the novel finding that Mus musculus telomeres shorten with age in all different stem cell compartments studied here, which in turn may result in decreased stem cell functionality at old age. The correct identification and characterization of adult stem cells in healthy and disease conditions could lead to new clinical applications, such as aid in their isolation as well in the study of their response to different treatments. In particular, tumors have been shown previously to show shorter telomeres compared with the normal surrounding tissue. The ability to identify different cell populations according to their telomere length within tumors will enable researchers to monitor their behavior in response to different stimuli or therapeutic treatments.

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