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Telomerase activity in T-cells as a functional test for pathogenicity assessment of novel genetic variants in telomere biology disorders
Umeå University, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Medical Biosciences, Pathology.
Umeå University, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Medical Biosciences, Medical and Clinical Genetics.
Umeå University, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Medical Biosciences, Pathology.
Umeå University, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Medical Biosciences, Pathology.
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2025 (English)In: Scientific Reports, E-ISSN 2045-2322, Vol. 15, no 1, article id 29048Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

The telomerase enzyme is essential for telomere maintenance. Pathogenic variants in telomere-associated genes have been associated with critical telomere shortening, resulting in telomere biology disorders (TBD) such as bone marrow failure, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, and dyskeratosis congenita. The TBDs are clinically heterogeneous and families with TBD often experience an earlier onset and increased symptom severity for each generation. Consensus guidelines have identified certain genetic variants as pathogenic or likely pathogenic, but many are classified as variants of uncertain significance (VUS) in the absence of additional supporting evidence. The pathogenicity of a VUS in genes encoding the telomerase complex could be evaluated by in vitro telomerase activity (TA) measurement. We have developed a functional TA assay in patient-derived T-cells based on the Telomeric Repeat Amplification Protocol (TRAP) combined with qPCR. TA was significantly lower in six TBD patients with a TERT or TERC variant compared to controls (0.11 versus 0.54, p < 0.001). Four patients had a TA of more than three standard deviations below the mean of controls, strongly supporting pathogenicity of the variants. In summary, functional analysis of TA in patient-derived cells could support pathogenic evaluation in clinical diagnostics and reduce the number of reported VUS for TBD patients.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Springer Nature, 2025. Vol. 15, no 1, article id 29048
Keywords [en]
Functional analysis, Genetic variants, Telomerase activity, Telomere biology disorders, Telomere length
National Category
Medical Genetics and Genomics
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-243409DOI: 10.1038/s41598-025-12566-7PubMedID: 40781257Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-105012849710OAI: oai:DiVA.org:umu-243409DiVA, id: diva2:1991784
Available from: 2025-08-25 Created: 2025-08-25 Last updated: 2025-08-25Bibliographically approved

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Carlund, OliviaNorberg, AnnaOsterman, PiaDegerman, SofieHultdin, Magnus

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