For determination of telomerase activity naïve and memory CD4+ and CD8+ T-cells were isolated and cultured in advanced RPMI 1640 (GIBCO) in the presence of 30 U/mL rIL-2 (Sigma, Vienna, Austria) and CD3/CD28 Dynabeads (bead:cell ratio 1:1; Invitrogen). After 3 and 6 days, 2 × 105 cells were harvested and telomerase activity was determined using TeloTAGGG Telomerase PCR ELISAplus kit (Roche) according to ‘Telomeric Repeat Amplification Protocols (TRAP)’.21 (link)