Stabilization of cellular properties and differentiation mutilpotential of human mesenchymal stem cells transduced with hTERT gene in a long-term culture.

Human bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) are promising candidates for cell therapy and tissue engineering. The life span of hMSCs during in vitro culture is limited. Human telomerase catalytic subunit (hTERT) gene transduction can prolong the life span of hMSCs and maintain their potential of osteogenic differentiation. We established a line of hMSCs transduced with exogenous hTERT (hTERT-hMSCs) and investigated its sustaining cellular properties in a long-term culture. This line of hTERT-hMSCs was cultured for 290 population doublings (PDs) without loss of contact inhibition. Under adipogenic, chondrogenic and osteogenic induction, hTERT-hMSCs at PD 95 and PD 275 could differentiate respectively into adipocytes, chondrocytes, and osteocytes. hTERT-hMSCs at these PDs showed no transforming activity through both in vitro assay of cell growth in soft agar and in vivo assay of tumorigenicity in NOD-SCID mice. Karyotype analyses showed no significant chromosomal abnormalities in hTERT-hMSCs at these PDs. These results suggested that the hTERT-hMSCs at lower population doubling levels (PDLs) should be considered as a cell model for studies of cellular senescence, differentiation and in vitro tissue engineering experiment because of its prolonged life span and normal cellular properties.