Induction of telomerase activity by irradiation in human lymphoblasts

Neuhof, D., Ruess, A., Wenz, F. and Weber, K. J. Induction of Telomerase Activity by Irradiation in Human Lymphoblasts. Radiat. Res. 155, 693-697 (2001). Telomerase activity is a radiation-inducible function, which suggests a role of this enzyme in DNA damage processing. Since the tumor suppressor TP53 plays a central role in the regulation of the cellular response to DNA damage, our study explored the ability of ionizing radiation to change telomerase activity and telomere length in two closely related human lymphoblast cell lines with different TP53 status. TK6 cells (wild-type TP53) and WTK1 cells (mutated TP53) were exposed to different doses of X rays, and telomerase activity was measured by PCR ELISA at different times after irradiation. A dose-dependent increase in telomerase activity was observed. One hour after irradiation with 4 Gy, TK6 and WTK1 cells showed an approximately 2.5-fold increase; for lower doses (0.1 to 1 Gy), telomerase induction was seen only in TK6 cells. Telomerase induction was observed by 0.5 h after irradiation, with a further increase up to 24 h. Irradiated TK6 and WTK1 cells had longer telomeres (+1.3 kb) than unirradiated cells 14 days after exposure. Our data demonstrate a dose-dependent induction of telomerase activity and lengthening of telomeres by ionizing radiation in human lymphoblasts. Induction of telomerase activity by radiation does not generally appear to be controlled by the TP53-dependent DNA damage response pathway. However, for low doses, induction of telomerase requires wild-type TP53.     

Inhibition of telomerase activity and human telomerase reverse transcriptase gene expression by histone deacetylase inhibitor in human brain cancer cells

The aim of the present study is to investigate the effect of histone deacetylase inhibitor, trichostatin A (TSA) on the cell growth, apoptosis, genomic DNA damage and the expression of telomerase and associated factors in human normal and brain cancer cells. Here, human normal un-transformed fibroblasts (MRC-5), human normal hTERT-immortalised fibroblasts (hTERT-BJ1) and human brain cancer cell lines (glioblastoma cell line, A-172 and medulloblastoma cell line, ONS-76) were treated with 0.5–3.0 μM TSA for 24 h. Exposure to TSA resulted in apoptosis in a dose-dependent manner in the brain cancer cells. Glioblastoma cell line (A-172) displayed higher sensitivity to TSA-induced cell killing effect and apoptosis than the medulloblastoma cell line (ONS-76). The brain cancer cell lines and hTERT-BJ1 cell line displayed significant inhibition in telomerase activity and hTERT mRNA level after 2 μM TSA treatment. Elevated expressions of p53 and p21 with a decrease in cyclin-D level supported the observation on cell cycle arrest following TSA treatment. Upregulation of Bax and cytochrome c correlated with the apoptotic events in TSA-treated cells. This study suggests that telomerase and hTERT might be the primary targets of TSA which may have the potential to be used as a telomerase inhibitor in cancer therapy.     

Steroidogenic activity in surface epithelium of the human ovary

The steroidogenic activity of the ovarian surface epithelium in various steps of biosynthesis of the sex steroids was investigated on 105 specimen of the ovaries obtained during laparotomy in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology of Postgraduate Medical School. The slices of the ovary were incubated according to the method elaborated by Levy et al. The studies were performed during the follicular and luteal phase of the menstrual phase. For the determination of the activity of delta 5-3-beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase pregnenolone and dehydroepiandrosterone were used. For the determination of 17 beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase androstenedione and testosterone were applied. The results obtained indicate, that the cells of the human surface epithelium have the enzyme system necessary for the different stages of steroidogenesis. However the results obtained do not prove that steroidogenic precursors are synthesized de novo in cells of the surface epithelium.     

Changes in N-glycosylation of human stromal cells by telomerase expression

It was established that remarkable changes in the N-glycosylation are induced in immortalized cancer cells. Whether changes were induced in human stromal cells immortalized by transfection with the human telomerase catalytic subunit (hTert) cDNA was examined by lectin blot analysis. Morphological appearance and growth rate of the gene-transfected stromal cells were not changed significantly. However, lectin blot analysis of membrane glycoprotein samples showed that bindings of Ricinus communis agglutinin-I (RCA-I) and of leuko-agglutinating phytohemagglutinin to glycoprotein bands increase significantly in the gene-transfected cells. No lectin binding was observed when blotted filters were treated with diplococcal beta-1,4-galactosidase or N-glycanase prior to incubation with RCA-I. In contrast, no changes in Coomassie brilliant blue-staining and in binding of concanavalin A were obtained between the primary and gene-transfected stromal cells. These results indicate that the highly branched N-glycosylation with augmented galactosylation is induced in human stromal cells immortalized by the telomerase expression.     

肿瘤细胞中端粒酶催化亚基hTERT基因启动子结合因子的检测

为了研究端粒酶催化亚基ｈＴＥＲＴ基因在癌变细胞中组成型表达的调控机制,采用凝胶阻滞电泳（ＥＭＳＡ）实验方法检测人粒系白血病细胞ＨＬ－６０、人红系白血病细胞Ｋ５６２、人肺癌细胞Ａ５４９、人肝癌细胞ＨｅｐＧ２及正常人肺成纤维细胞２ＢＳ等体外传代的肿瘤和正常二倍体细胞核提取物中与ｈＴＥＲＴ启动子核心序列结合的核因子活性。结果在４种实验肿瘤细胞中均可检测出与ｈＴＥＲＴ基因启动子结合的核因子活性,而正常二倍     

Metalloproteinase expression by control and telomerase immortalized human endometrial endothelial cells

Vascular endothelial cells play a critical role in the maintenance of endometrial homeostasis. Indeed many pathological conditions causing abnormal endometrial bleeding including progestin only contraception, hormone replacement therapy, endometrial polyps, myomas, hyperplasia and cancer are associated with aberrant angiogenesis. Critical to the process of angiogenesis is the breakdown of the surrounding tissues by matrix metalloproteases (MMPs). In addition to the cells surrounding the endometrial endothelial cells, the endothelial cells themselves produce their own panel of MMPs. We now characterize the specific MMPs that are expressed by endothelial cells derived from human endometrium. These include MMP-1, MMP-2 and MMP-10 but not MMP-3. In addition, in order to successfully carry out consistent, homogeneous and sufficient numbers of studies we investigated the in vitro expression of the MMPs with both freshly isolated, early passaged endometrial endothelial cells (HEECs) as well as with newly telomerase immortalized HEECs (T-HEECs). The latter were karyotypically normal and expressed classic endothelial cell endpoints such as tubulogenesis on matrigel and expression of the endothelial cell markers CD-31 (PECAM), von Willebrand's factor, and the Tie-2 receptors. The levels of MMP expression as well as that of the metalloprotease inhibitors TIMP-1 and TIMP-2 were similar in parent and immortalized endothelial cells.     

窦前期卵泡颗粒细胞端粒酶的表达及调控

目的：观察体外培养的大鼠窦前期卵泡颗粒细胞中端粒酶表达的调控因素。方法：体外培养大鼠窦前期卵泡颗粒细胞,加入不同处理因素振荡培养,用端粒酶重复扩增酶联免疫吸附分析法（TRAP-ELISA法）分析端粒酶活性的改变。结果：在卵泡颗粒细胞中表达有端粒酶活性,且在人绒毛膜促性腺激素（hcG）、促卵泡生成素（FSH）、二丁酰环磷腺苷（dbcAMP）及维拉帕米（verapamil）作用下活性明显升高,而在反义c-myb作用下活性明显降低。同时用放射免疫法测定培养液中雌孕激素含量发现,在Verapamil及FSH作用下雌孕激素分泌量明显升高,在db-cAMP及hcG作用下分泌量无明显改变,而在反义c-myb作用下分泌量明显降低,在不同作用因素下的端粒酶活性与它相对应的E2分泌量成正相关r=0.953,P〈0.01。用四甲基偶氮唑盐（MTT）法测定,反义hTERT能明显抑制颗粒细胞的增殖。结论：窦前期卵巢的颗粒细胞中表达有端粒酶活性,强弱可进行调控。     

hTERT基因片段的克隆,表达和抗hTERTy抗体用于端粒酶及hTER …

Telomerase is an important biomarker in cancer cells. It is active in germline cells, most of cancer tissues and cell lines, but not in most somatic tissues. Telomerase is composed of two components, and while hTER is present in normal and tumor cells, expression of hTERT appears to be highly regulated and correlates with telomerase activity. In order to detect the telomerase enzyme and hTERT protein, anti-hTERT polyclonal antibodies were produced in this study. A segment of hTERT cDNA was amplified by RT-PCR and cloned into the multi-cloning site of the GST gene fusion vector pGEX-5X-3. After the recombinant plasmid was expressed in E. coli BL21, the fusion protein was purified for immunization. Extracts from several cultured cells were analyzed by Western blot, and the results indicated that telomerase enzyme and hTERT protein could be specifically detected by this anti-hTERT antibod'. Thus, a simple and effective method was primarily established for the immunodetection of telomerase enzyme and hTERT protein.     

Induction of telomerase activity increase reprogramming efficiency of human dermal fibroblasts

Reprogramming of human cells is a perspective direction of development of Cell Biology with the distant prospect of using these methods for cellular-replacing therapy in clinical practice. One of the problems rising in this regard is low reprogramming efficiency and application of undesirable oncogenes in initial techniques. In this research, we had offered the alternative modified method of reprogramming human skin fibroblasts. It has been shown that the telomerase induction increases an exit of reprogrammed cells and allows excluding oncogene c-Myc from a used set of genes.