Open AccessDifferent rates of telomere attrition in peripheral lymphocytes in a pair of dizygotic twins with hematopoietic chimerism
Author(s) -
Brüderlein Silke,
Müller Kathrin,
Melzner Julia,
Högel Josef,
Wiegand Peter,
Möller Peter
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
aging cell
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.103
H-Index - 140
eISSN - 1474-9726
pISSN - 1474-9718
DOI - 10.1111/j.1474-9726.2008.00413.x
Subject(s) - biology , dizygotic twins , attrition , telomere , haematopoiesis , peripheral blood , immunology , genetics , peripheral , medicine , dna , stem cell , obstetrics , dentistry
Summary Hematopoietic chimerism in dizygotic twins is due to placental vascular anastomoses and arises when hematopoietic stem cells from one twin home to the bone marrow of the other. We report a case of hematopoietic chimerism in a pair of 27‐year‐old dizygotic twins who each had a mixture of 46,XX and 46,XY blood lymphocytes, both with 98% male (XY) lymphocytes and 2% female (XX) lymphocytes. Analysis of telomere length by T/C FISH revealed that the female twin generally had longer telomeres than the male twin. Moreover, in the male sibling, the telomeres within the female lymphocytes were shortened to 87% of their original length, while the telomeres within the male lymphocytes were 33% longer in the female sibling. Thus, telomere length attrition in peripheral lymphocytes is determined mainly by the environment of the cell and less by intracellular factors.