Fig. 3.

Telomerase and telomeric length. (A-D) c-kit-positive cells (green, arrows) expressing telomerase (A and C, white) in nuclei. Nuclei are also positive for MCM5 (B and D, red). The c-kit-positive cell (C and D) has a thin myocyte cytoplasmic layer (cardiac myosin, red; arrowheads). (E) Number of primitive, early committed cells and small amplifying myocytes expressing telomerase and MCM5. Results are mean ± SD. *, P < 0.001 between hypertrophied (aortic stenosis, AS) and control (C) hearts. (F) Telomerase activity in control (Con) and hypertrophied (AS) hearts; products of telomerase activity start at 50 bp and display 6-bp periodicity. Lysates treated with RNase (+) were used as negative control and HeLa cells as positive control. (G) Telomeric restriction fragment lengths in control (Con) and hypertrophied (AS) hearts; immortal cell lines of known mean telomeric length, 10.2 and 7.0 kbp, were used as baseline.