The "telomereless" erythrocytes and telomere-length dependent erythropoiesis.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 37824094.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1111/acel.13997 and PMC identifier 10726845.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
Approximately 25 trillion erythrocytes (red blood cells) circulate in the bloodstream of an adult human, surpassing the number of circulating leukocytes (white blood cells) by a factor of about 1000. Moreover, the erythrocyte turnover rate accounts for approximately 76% of the turnover rate of all circulating blood cells. This simple math shows that the hematopoietic system principally spends its telomere length-dependent replicative capacity on building and maintaining the erythrocyte blood pool. Erythropoiesis (red blood cell production) is thus the principal cause of telomere shortening with age in hematopoietic cells (HCs), a conclusion that holds significant implications for linking telomere length dynamics in HCs to health and lifespan of modern humans.
Medical subject headings
- Erythropoiesis
- Erythrocytes