TELOMERE LENGTH AS A TOOL TO MONITOR SATELLITE CELL AMPLIFICATION FORCELL-MEDIATED GENE-THERAPY

Cell-mediated gene therapy requires an in vitro amplification of modif ied cells prior to their injection into target tissue, Since the proli ferative capacity of normal human cells is limited, we have tested a m ethod to follow in vitro the proliferative potential of human satellit e cells, Our results show that telomere length can be used to predict the proliferative potential of human satellite cells, In this short co mmunication, the telomere shortening and the limited replicative poten tial are discussed in the context of the possible use of human satelli te cells for gene transfer and why cell-mediated gene therapy has been less successful in humans than in mice.