Brousset P, al Saati T, Zenou R C, Delsol G
Laboratoire du Groupe d'Etude des Lymphomes Malins, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Purpan, Toulouse, France.
Mol Pathol. 1998 Jun;51(3):170-3. doi: 10.1136/mp.51.3.170.
Telomerase activity has been demonstrated at low levels in peripheral blood lymphocytes but at high levels in germinal centre B cells and thymocyte subpopulations. This study shows that telomerase is activated in the normal human thymus at different times of life. Telomerase activity was detected in thymic protein extracts from two newborn babies and from a 12 year old boy, as well as in extracts from two of six adult patients. The two positive cases were patients aged 54 and 66 years. These results suggest strongly that the thymus can remain functional despite involution in elderly patients.
端粒酶活性在外周血淋巴细胞中呈低水平，但在生发中心B细胞和胸腺细胞亚群中呈高水平。本研究表明，端粒酶在人正常胸腺中于生命的不同时期被激活。在两名新生儿和一名12岁男孩的胸腺蛋白提取物中检测到了端粒酶活性，在6名成年患者中的2名患者的提取物中也检测到了端粒酶活性。这两名呈阳性的患者年龄分别为54岁和66岁。这些结果有力地表明，尽管老年患者的胸腺发生了退化，但仍可保持功能。
