““Not only does exogenous telomerase support the proliferation and differentiation of healthy stem cells, but it also inhibits the differentiation of cancer stem cells.” Differentiation of normal stem cells is important for health and declines with age. My 14th theory of aging in my treatise is DECLINE IN ADULT STEM CELL DIFFERENTIATION, so promotion of such differentiation for aging people may be critical for longevity. The research cited in the post shows that the telomerase component TERT also inhibits the differentiation of NT2.
“NT2 is a neuronally committed human teratocarcinoma cell line.” says that NT2 is a cancer found only in human neurons.
“I have to say this finding partially puts to rest a concern I have expressed in this blog – that telomerase activation may activate cancer stem cells. We will have to see how telomerase activation.” In my blog post last week called Telomerase activation – upside and downside, I expressed a concern that my taking a telomerase activator may have contributed to an occurence of a skin cancer found a few weeks ago, because the telomerase activator may have triggered differentiation of cancer skin stem cells. The research cited in the current post shows that, at least for the NT2 cancer, telomerase activation produces the opposite effect – decreases differentiation of the cancer stem cells. Further research will be needed to prove out that this is also the case for other cancer lines,