Mice with humanized telomere homeostasis

Unmet Need: The imperative need for mouse models in advancing research on human aging and tumorigenesis

Telomeres play a key role in human aging and tumorigenesis. However, studying telomeres in mouse models presents challenges due to significant difference in telomere length, which is up to 10 times longer than in humans. To address this limitation, researchers developed a method of shortening the mice telomeres to the length of human telomeres resulting in an accurate mouse model for studying human aging and tumorigenesis.

The Technology: Created an accurate mouse model for studying human aging and tumorigenesis

WSU researchers developed a method to shorten mice telomeres to the length found in human telomeres by introducing the humanized gene (hmTert) for 16 generations of breeding. They have designed and engineered a humanized mouse Tert gene, hmTert, by knocking the non-coding regulatory sequences into the mouse telomerase gene (mTert) locus in mouse embryonic stem cells (ESCs). These mice do not express telomerase in most adult tissues, and they possess human-like short telomeres.

Applications: