TERT and neoplasm: Although we cannot rule out that AAV9-Tert-DN might also have some telomere-independent mechanism to suppress tumor growth, however, the fact that the tumors appearing in mice transduced with AAV9-Tert-DN showed a five-fold increase in telomere induced foci (TIFs) clearly indicates that Tert-DN expression suppress tumor growth by inducing telomere damage.