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. 2012 May 15;4(8):691–704. doi: 10.1002/emmm.201200245

Figure 5. Catalytic activity of mTERT is needed for increased healthspan and life-span extension in AAV9-mTERT treated mice.

Figure 5

  1. Scheme of mTERT-wt and mTERT-DN, a catalytically inactive form of telomerase previously generated and described by us (see Materials and Methods Section).
  2. Fold change in mTERT mRNA levels in AAV9-mTERT or AAV9-mTERT-DN treated mice compared to age-matched AAV9-eGFP controls. Values are normalized for actin and are represented as the change in mean ± SEM relative to samples of age-matched AAV9-eGFP mice (set to 1). Student's t-test was used for statistical analysis.
  3. mRNA levels of Wnt target gene CyclinD1 in the liver of mice treated with AAV9-eGFP, AAV9-mTERT or AAV9-mTERT-DN vectors. Values are normalized for actin and are represented as the change in mean ± SEM relative to samples of age-matched AAV9-eGFP mice (set to 1). Student's t-test was used for statistical analysis (*p < 0.05; **p < 0.01).
  4. Expression of p16 mRNA in the liver of mice treated with AAV9-eGFP, AAV9-mTERT or AAV9-mTERT-DN vectors. Data was normalized for actin and are represented as the change in mean ± SEM relative to samples of age-matched AAV9-eGFP mice (set to 1). Student's t-test was used for statistical analysis (*p < 0.05).
  5. mRNA levels of Wnt target gene CyclinD1 in the brain of mice treated with AAV9-eGFP, AAV9-mTERT or AAV9-mTERT-DN vectors. Values are normalized for actin and are represented as the change in mean ± SEM relative to samples of age-matched AAV9-eGFP mice (set to 1). Student's t-test was used for statistical analysis (*p < 0.05).
  6. Percentage of short telomeres (percentage of telomeres presenting an intensity below 50% of the mean intensity of the corresponding control [AAV9-eGFP 1 year old]) 1 month post-treatment with the indicated vectors or in age-matched non-treated mice (control). Data are given as mean ± SEM. One-way ANOVA (with Dunnett's post hoc test against AAV9-eGFP) was used for statistical analysis (*p < 0.05; **p < 0.005).
  7. Femur bone mineral density (BMD femur) measured 6 months post injection with the indicated vectors or in age-matched non-treated mice (control). Data are given as mean ± SEM. One-way ANOVA (with Dunnett's post hoc test against AAV9-eGFP) was used for statistical analysis (**p < 0.01).
  8. Insulin levels measured 3 months post injection with the indicated vectors or in age-matched non-treated mice (control). Age-matched female mice were used. Data are given as mean ± SEM. One-way ANOVA (with Dunnett's post hoc test against AAV9-eGFP) was used for statistical analysis (*p < 0.05).
  9. Survival curves of the indicated mouse cohorts. Alive mice are plotted as a vertical line.