Telomere Length Test for Tumor Cells

Telomeres have important functions in chromosome stability and replication. Progressive telomere shortening may lead to genetic instability and tumor transformation. Most cancer cells activate telomerase and lengthen their telomeres, but cancer cells usually still maintain shortened telomeres. Given the role of telomere length in biological homeostasis, there is a growing interest in accurately and efficiently measuring telomere length.

Telomere shortening is associated with a range of different tumor diseases, and therefore reliable measurements are needed to reveal this association. CD BioSciences provides cost-effective and efficient telomere length measurement services for tumor cells.

Telomere Length Affects Cancer Cells

Fig. 1 Telomere maintenance in cancer cells.

Cancer cells survive cellular crises through telomere maintenance mechanisms. Tumor cells typically express high levels of telomerase so that they can maintain and extend their telomere length to proliferate and survive. Some studies have investigated the dynamics of telomere length during tumorigenesis. Most studies have found that telomeres shorten during tumor transformation, but some studies have demonstrated that telomere length remains unchanged. The dynamic changes in telomere length during tumorigenesis may serve as a biomarker of aging as well as cancer risk, onset, progression and prognosis.

Our Services

We recognize that telomere length is a key variable in the biological function of senescence and carcinogenesis. Therefore, we provide measurement techniques that provide accurate information about telomere length in different tumor cell.

• Human cell line culture - We can establish in vitro cultured human cell lines, including various solid tumor cell lines, such as
  • Cervical cancer
  • Breast cancer
  • Renal cell carcinoma
  • Hepatocellular carcinoma

  • Lung cancer
  • Colorectal cancer
  • Pancreatic cancer
  • Ovarian cancer

  • Prostate cancer
  • Giant cell tumor
  • Fibrosarcoma
  • More other types

  All cell lines are cultured in ambient oxygen, 5% CO₂ and preserved in the appropriate medium.

• Telomere length measurement - Preparation for the measurements first starts with DNA extraction. We will isolate genomic DNA from cultured cell lines, quantify DNA concentration and purity, and analyze its quality. The extracted DNA material is used to assess and compare telomere length in various human tumor cell lines. Typically, we use qPCR to perform relative and absolute length measurements of telomere length. The same control DNA will be included in each assay run, and the intra- and inter-batch coefficients of variation will be carefully monitored.
• Statistical analysis - The analysis process generally uses ANOVA, analysis of significance of differences between groups, and correlation tests. Specific analyses may include comparative analysis of mean telomere length in tumor cells and normal cells and other analysis metrics as needed.

Technical Advantages

• Precise and efficient. Scientific research results, improved and innovative qPCR technology can achieve more efficient, stable and accurate measurement results.
• Consistency. Support simultaneous detection of telomeric fragments and internal reference genes in the same tube, resulting in more comparable results and saving samples.
• More cost-effective. Reduce your testing costs and provide a personalized database for data comparison to achieve a more cost-effective service.

CD BioSciences specializes in telomere length analysis and is available in laboratories worldwide. Please contact us to learn more.

References

1. Hirashima K, et al. Telomere length influences cancer cell differentiation in vivo. Molecular and cellular biology, 2013, 33(15): 2988-2995.
2. Barthel F, et al. Systematic analysis of telomere length and somatic alterations in 31 cancer types. Nature Genetics, 2017, 49: 349–357.

Our services are for research use only and not for any clinical use.