Telomere and telomerase in oncology

Telomere and cell replicative senescenceTelomeres, which are located at the end of chro-mosome, are crucial to protect chromosome againstdegeneration, rearrangment and end to end fusion[1].Human telomeres are tandemly repeated units of thehexanucleotide TTAGGG. The estimated length oftelomeric DNA varies from 2 to 20 kilo base pairs,depending on factors such as tissue type and hu-man age. The buck of telomeric DNA is double-stranded, but the end of telomeric DNA consists of3' overhang of…     

EB病毒潜伏膜蛋白1诱导人鼻咽上皮细胞端粒酶的表达

Telomerase activation has been linked to cell immortalization in vitro and tumorigenicity in vivo. In this study, for the first, we reported that Epstein-Barr virus activated the telomerase activity of human nasopharyngeal epithelial cells in the early stage of immortalization as tested by the PCR-ELISA. The telomerase activity in nasopharyngeal epithelial cells was only observed in presenescent cells. It was implicated that Epstein-Barr virus induced the escape of nasopharyngeal epithelial cells from senescence via the activation of telomerase. We further showed that telomerase activation in infected cells was dependent on the protein level of latent membrane protein 1 (LMP1) encoded by Epstein-Barr virus using a Tetracycline regulatory cell line expressing LMP1, pTet-on-LMP1-HNE2. The activity of telomerase in nasopharyngeal cells was decreased when the protein level of LMP1 was blocked by antisense LMP1 plasmid DNA. And the activity of telmerase was also related to the carboxyl terminus of LMP1. It was implicated that the ability of Epstein-Barr virus to suppress senescence is associated with telomerase activation by LMP1.     

端粒酶RNA组分的反义寡核苷酸对BEL—7404人肝癌细胞端粒酶活性的抑制和细胞凋亡的诱导

Telomerase activity was detected in all of four human hepatoma cells but absent in normal liver tissue. Telomerase activity of BEL-7404 human hepatoma cells was inhibited effectively by antisense oligonucleotide to telomerase RNA component at final concentration of 1 mumol/L, whereas sense and missense oligonucleotides have no effects on its activity. The inhibition of telomerase activity was weakened, as the concentration of antisense oligonucleotide decreased. Treating BEL-7404 human hepatoma cells 96 hours continuously by the antisense oligomers at final concentration of 5 mumol/L, the morphology of treated cells changed and apoptosis percent of the cells increased markedly.     

端粒酶RNA反义基因对肝癌细胞的影响

用RT-PCR的方法钓取端粒酶RNA基因的cDNA,并将其反向插入到逆转录病毒载体pLNCX上,构建hTR基因的反义表达质粒。将质粒经脂质体介导转染人肝癌SMMG-7721细胞中表达。结果表明hTR反义基因的表达有效地封闭或抑制肝癌细胞的端粒酶活性,抑制细胞的生长和增殖,延长细胞的倍增时间并促进细胞凋亡。     

前列腺癌相关基因研究

前列腺癌是目前最重要的危害欧美国家男性健康的肿瘤疾病,在我国发病也呈上升趋势,本综述了前列腺相关基因研究的最新献,分染色体畸变、易感基因、原癌基因、抑癌基因和其他基因等五个部分。     

端粒酶与血液系统肿瘤

端粒 (ｔｅｌｏｍｅｒｅ)是真核细胞染色体末端的ＤＮＡ 蛋白质复合物。端粒酶 (ｔｅｌｏｍｅｒａｓｅ)是由ＲＮＡ和蛋白质组成的特殊核糖核蛋白复合体 ,具有逆转录酶活性 ,能以自身ＲＮＡ为模板 ( 5′ ＣＵＡＡＣＣＣＵＡＡＣ 3′)合成端粒。在正常人体细胞中端粒酶活性表达受抑 ,而在肿瘤形成时可被激活。因此在某些永生细胞和肿瘤细胞中随着ＤＮＡ的复制 ,其端粒不会缩短。1 .端粒酶在血液系统肿瘤表达端粒酶在人体细胞大多为阴性 ,但在胚系细胞、精子细胞、小肠陷窝细胞、毛囊细胞、上皮细胞、活化淋巴细胞、子宫内膜细胞和大多数肿瘤细…     

采用AMV和M-MLV逆转录酶的直接DNA序列测定方法

最近发表在《Focus》杂志上的几篇文章,论述了几种改进测定含dG·dC或dA·dT同聚物区M13模板序列的方法。包括以AMV(禽类髓细胞瘤病毒)逆转录酶代替DNA聚合酶Ⅰ大片段(Klenow fragment),以及仍用Klenow片段但提高测序反应温度等。     

日本研究发现能遏制癌细胞增殖的基因

日本研究人员日前宣布，他们发现了能够遏制癌细胞增殖时必需的端粒酶发挥作用的基因。这一成果有助开发新的癌症诊疗方法。     

以端粒酶为靶点的药物设计和基因治疗策略

端粒亦称端区,位于真核细胞染色体末端,随细胞分裂而脱失,缩短至一定程度时体细胞死亡,癌细胞因具有合成端粒的端粒酶而获永生。端粒酶亦称端聚酶,为一含ＲＮＡ的核糖核蛋白,在９０％的癌细胞中过表达,成为肿瘤治疗的新靶点。以端粒酶为靶点的药物设计策略包括端粒酶ＲＮＡ和编码蛋白质的基因以及编码端粒结合蛋白基因的操作。另外,染色体转移、诱导分化、细胞周期调节及常规药物筛选亦为重要的策略。其中针对端粒酶ＲＮＡ模     

端粒女王——布莱克伯恩教授

端粒是真核生物染色体末端的一个特殊结构,其长短与细胞寿命有明显关系,布莱克伯恩通过20多年的研究阐明了端粒的特异序列和维持机制——端粒酶催化,从而使人们对端粒有了较为全面的理解,同时也开创了一个新的研究方向——端粒生物学。端粒的研究可能对一些衰老相关疾病和癌症治疗提供新的方案,布莱克伯恩也由于在该领域的卓越贡献而被称为“端粒女王”。