Maintenance of telomeres in SV40-transformed pre-immortal and immortal human fibroblasts

Shortening of telomeres has been hypothesized to contribute to cellular senescence and may play a role in carcinogenesis of human cells. Furthermore, activation of telomerase has frequently been demonstrated in tumor-derived and in vitro immortalized cells. In this study, we have assessed these phenomena during the life span of simian virus 40 (SV40)-transformed preimmortal and immortal human fibroblasts. We observed progressive reduction in telomere length in preimmortal transformed cells with extended proliferative capacity, with the most dramatic shortening at late passage. Telomere lengths became stabilized (or increased) in immortal fibroblasts accompanied, in one case, by the activation of telomerase. However, an independent immortal cell line that displayed stable telomeres did not have detectable telomerase activity. Furthermore, we found significant telomerase activity in two preimmortal derivatives. Our results provide further evidence for maintenance of telomeres in immortalized human fibroblasts, but they suggest a lack of causal relationship between telomerase activation and immortalization. © 1996 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

SV40 T antigen and telomerase are required to obtain immortalized human adult bone cells without loss of the differentiated phenotype.

In most human primary bone cells, SV40 T-antigen expression was able to expand life span for a few passages before cells undergo growth arrest, described as crisis. In this study, telomerase activity was reconstituted in human osteoblast precursors (hPOB cells) and marrow stromal cells (Saka cells) transformed with the SV40 T antigen. Bone cells with telomerase activity were able to bypass crisis and show unlimited life span. Despite chromosomal aberrations observed in hPOB-tert cells, these immortalized precursors were able to differentiate into osteoblasts like precrisis hPOB cells. Saka-tert cells enhanced the formation of human osteoclast-like cells in a similar manner as Saka cells. These results demonstrate that reconstitution of telomerase activity in transformed SV40 T-antigen human osteoblast precursors or marrow stromal cells leads to the generation of immortalized cells with a preserved phenotype.     

Reconstitution of Telomerase Activity Extends the Proliferative Life-span and Maintains the Neurogenetic Potential of Mesenchymal Stem Cells Derived from Human Fetal Muscle

目的 :通过重建端粒酶活性延长胎儿肌肉源间充质干细胞寿命 ,并对其成神经潜能进行研究 ,为组织工程神经修复提供种子细胞。方法 :将人端粒酶催化亚基 (hTERT)基因通过脂质体转染法导入胎儿肌肉源间充质干细胞 ,RT PCR检测hTERTmRNA的表达 ,TRAP PCR检测细胞端粒酶活性。用bFGF诱导已重建端粒酶活性的肌肉源间充质干细胞向神经细胞分化 ,免疫荧光及免疫印迹法检测分化情况。结果 :转染hTERT的胎儿肌肉源间充质干细胞能稳定表达端粒酶活性。转染后传 75代的细胞经bFGF诱导仍维持着自我更新及向神经细胞分化的潜能 ,且无恶性转化倾向。结论 :重建端粒酶活性可延长胎儿肌肉源间充质干细胞寿命并维持自我更新及成神经潜能 ,为建立组织工程标准细胞系提供了新的实验手段     

Telomerase can extend the proliferative capacity of human myoblasts,but does not lead to their immortalization

Normal cells in culture display a limited capacity to divide and reach a non-proliferative state called cellular senescence. Spontaneous escape from senescence resulting in an indefinite life span is an exceptionally rare event for normal human cells and viral oncoproteins have been shown to extend the replicative life span but not to immortalize them. Telomere shortening has been proposed as a mitotic clock that regulates cellular senescence. Telomerase is capable of synthesizing telomere repeats onto chromosome ends to block telomere shortening and to maintain human fibroblasts in proliferation beyond their usual life span. However, the consequence of telomerase expression on the life span of human myoblasts and on their differentiation is unknown. In this study, the telomerase gene and the puromycin resistance gene were introduced into human satellite cells, which are the natural muscle precursors (myoblasts) in the adult and therefore, a target for cell-mediated gene therapy. Satellite cells expressing telomerase were selected, and the effects of the expression of the telomerase gene on proliferation, telomere length, and differentiation were investigated. Our results show that the telomerase-expressing cells are able to differentiate and to form multinucleated myotubes expressing mature muscle markers and do not form tumors in vivo. We also demonstrated that the expression of hTERT can extend the replicative life of muscle cells although these failed to undergo immortalization.     

Critical and distinct roles of p16 and telomerase in regulating the proliferative life span of normal human prostate epithelial progenitor cells

Normal human prostate (NHP) epithelial cells undergo senescence in vitro and in vivo, but the underlying molecular mechanisms remain obscure. Here we show that the senescence of primary NHP cells, which are immunophenotyped as intermediate basal-like cells expressing progenitor cell markers CD44, alpha2beta1, p63, hTERT, and CK5/CK18, involves loss of telomerase expression, up-regulation of p16, and activation of p53. Using genetically defined manipulations of these three signaling pathways, we show that p16 is the primary determinant of the NHP cell proliferative capacity and that hTERT is required for unlimited proliferative life span. Hence, suppression of p16 significantly extends NHP cell life span, but both p16 inhibition and hTERT are required to immortalize NHP cells. Importantly, immortalized NHP cells retain expression of most progenitor markers, demonstrate gene expression profiles characteristic of proliferating progenitor cells, and possess multilineage differentiation potential generating functional prostatic glands. Our studies shed important light on the molecular mechanisms regulating the proliferative life span of NHP progenitor cells.     

Conditionally immortalized mouse embryonic fibroblasts retain proliferative activity without compromising multipotent differentiation potential

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are multipotent cells which reside in many tissues and can give rise to multiple lineages including bone, cartilage and adipose. Although MSCs have attracted significant attention for basic and translational research, primary MSCs have limited life span in culture which hampers MSCs' broader applications. Here, we investigate if mouse mesenchymal progenitors can be conditionally immortalized with SV40 large T antigen and maintain long-term cell proliferation without compromising their multipotency. Using the system which expresses SV40 large T antigen flanked with Cre/loxP sites, we demonstrate that mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs) can be efficiently immortalized by SV40 large T antigen. The conditionally immortalized MEFs (iMEFs) exhibit an enhanced proliferative activity and maintain long-term cell proliferation, which can be reversed by Cre recombinase. The iMEFs express most MSC markers and retain multipotency as they can differentiate into osteogenic, chondrogenic and adipogenic lineages under appropriate differentiation conditions in vitro and in vivo. The removal of SV40 large T reduces the differentiation potential of iMEFs possibly due to the decreased progenitor expansion. Furthermore, the iMEFs are apparently not tumorigenic when they are subcutaneously injected into athymic nude mice. Thus, the conditionally immortalized iMEFs not only maintain long-term cell proliferation but also retain the ability to differentiate into multiple lineages. Our results suggest that the reversible immortalization strategy using SV40 large T antigen may be an efficient and safe approach to establishing long-term cell culture of primary mesenchymal progenitors for basic and translational research, as well as for potential clinical applications.     

永生化后细胞的生物学特性

近年来,永生化细胞技术快速发展,对细胞生物学特性的研究及其临床应用具有深远的意义。目前通过导入永生化基因SV40抗原和hTERT基因成为细胞永生化的常用方法,但存在安全性隐患。利用可逆性永生化技术,使细胞在获得永生化能力的同时去除永生化基因,使细胞恢复到原始状态。文章综述了永生化后细胞生物学特性的变化,并讨论了临床应用可能面临的问题。     

Successful immortalization of mesenchymal progenitor cells derived from human placenta and the differentiation abilities of immortalized cells

We reported previously that mesenchymal progenitor cells derived from chorionic villi of the human placenta could differentiate into osteoblasts, adipocytes, and chondrocytes under proper induction conditions and that these cells should be useful for allogeneic regenerative medicine, including cartilage tissue engineering. However, similar to human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs), though these placental cells can be isolated easily, they are difficult to study in detail because of their limited life span in vitro. To overcome this problem, we attempted to prolong the life span of human placenta-derived mesenchymal cells (hPDMCs) by modifying hTERT and Bmi-1, and investigated whether these modified hPDMCs retained their differentiation capability and multipotency. Our results indicated that the combination of hTERT and Bmi-1 was highly efficient in prolonging the life span of hPDMCs with differentiation capability to osteogenic, adipogenic, and chondrogenic cells in vitro. Clonal cell lines with directional differentiation ability were established from the immortalized parental hPDMC/hTERT+Bmi-1. Interestingly, hPDMC/Bmi-1 showed extended proliferation after long-term growth arrest and telomerase was activated in the immortal hPDMC/Bmi-1 cells. However, the differentiation potential was lost in these cells. This study reports a method to extend the life span of hPDMCs with hTERT and Bmi-1 that should become a useful tool for the study of mesenchymal stem cells.     

The catalytic and the RNA subunits of human telomerase are required to immortalize equid primary fibroblasts

Many human primary somatic cells can be immortalized by inducing telomerase activity through the exogenous expression of the human telomerase catalytic subunit (hTERT). This approach has been extended to the immortalization of cell lines from several mammals. Here, we show that hTERT expression is not sufficient to immortalize primary fibroblasts from three equid species, namely donkey, Burchelli’s zebra and Grevy’s zebra. In vitro analysis of a reconstituted telomerase composed by hTERT and an equid RNA component of telomerase (TERC) revealed a low activity of this enzyme compared to human telomerase, suggesting a low compatibility of equid and human telomerase subunits. This conclusion was also strengthened by comparison of human and equid TERC sequences, which revealed nucleotide differences in key regions for TERC and TERT interaction. We then succeeded in immortalizing equid fibroblasts by expressing hTERT and hTERC concomitantly. Expression of both human telomerase subunits led to telomerase activity and telomere elongation, indicating that human telomerase is compatible with the other equid telomerase subunits and proteins involved in telomere metabolism. The immortalization procedure described herein could be extended to primary cells from other mammals. The availability of immortal cells from endangered species could be particularly useful for obtaining new information on the organization and function of their genomes, which is relevant for their preservation.     

Immortalization of human fibroblasts transformed by origin-defective simian virus 40.

Simian virus 40 (SV40)-mediated transformation of human diploid fibroblasts has provided an effective experimental system for studies of both "senescence" in cell culture and carcinogenesis. Previous interpretations may have been complicated, however, by the semipermissive virus-cell interaction. In earlier studies, we previously demonstrated that the human diploid fibroblast line HS74 can be efficiently transformed by DNA from replication-defective mutants of SV40 containing a deletion in the viral origin for DNA synthesis (SVori-). In the current study, we found that such SVori- transformants show a significantly increased life span in culture, as compared with either HS74 or an independent transformant containing an intact viral genome, but they nonetheless undergo senescence. We have clonally isolated six immortalized derivatives of one such transformant (SV/HF-5). Growth studies indicate that the immortalized cell lines do not invariably grow better than SV/HF-5 or HS74. Genetic studies involving karyotypic analysis and Southern analysis of integrated viral sequences demonstrated both random and nonrandom alterations. All immortalized derivatives conserved one of the two copies of SV40 sequences which expressed a truncated T antigen. These cloned SV40-transformed cell lines, pre- and postimmortalization, should be useful in defining molecular changes associated with immortalization.     

Karyotype instability and anchorage-independent growth in telomerase-immortalized fibroblasts from two centenarian individuals

Several reports have shown that the ectopic expression of the human telomerase catalytic subunit gene (hTERT) leads to an indefinite extension of the life span of human fibroblasts cultured in vitro without the appearance of cancer-associated changes. We infected two fibroblast strains derived from centenarian individuals with an hTERT containing retrovirus and isolated transduced massive populations (cen2tel and cen3tel). In both populations, hTERT expression reconstituted telomerase activity and extended the life span. In cen2tel, a net telomere lengthening was observed while, in cen3tel, telomeres stabilized at a length lower than that detected in senescent parental cells. Interestingly, both cen2tel and cen3tel cells developed chromosome anomalies, numerical first and structural thereafter. Moreover, cen3tel cells acquired the ability to grow in the absence of solid support, a typical feature of transformed cells. The results we present here highlight an unexpected possible outcome of cellular immortalization driven by telomerase reactivation, and indicate that, in some cases, an artificial extension of cellular replicative capacity can increase the probability of occurrence of genomic alterations, which can lead to cellular transformation.     

Activity of the Human Telomerase Catalytic Subunit (hTERT) Gene Promoter Could Be Increased by the SV40 Enhancer

Telomerase is a ribonucleoprotein complex of which the function is to add telomeric repeats to chromosomal ends. Telomerase consists of two essential components, the telomerase RNA template (hTR) and the catalytic subunit (hTERT). hTERT is expressed only in cells and tissues positive for telomerase activity, i.e., tumor and fetal cells. The aim of this study is to test the increased telomerase promoter activity for cancer gene therapy in adenovirus vector. We cloned the hTERT promoter in place of the SV40 promoter in the pGL3-contol vector to be increased by the SV40 enhancer sequences, resulting in strong expression of luc+ only in telomerase positive cancer cells. Then we transfected the constructed plasmid into a normal human cell line and several cancer cell lines. Through these experiments, we identified the selective and increased expression of the luciferase gene controlled by the hTERT promoter and the SV40 enhancer in the telomerase positive cancer cell lines. To investigate the possibility of utilizing the hTERT promoter and the SV40 enhancer in targeted cancer gene therapy, we constructed an adenovirus vector expressing HSV-TK controlled by the hTERT promoter and the SV40 enhancer for the induction of specific telomerase positive cancer cell death. NSCLC cells infected by Ad-hT-TK-enh were more significantly suppressed and induced apoptosis than those infected by Ad-hT-TK. Telomerase is activated in 80～90% of cancers, so adenovirus with increasing telomerase promoter activity might be used for targeted cancer gene therapy using suicide genes. These results show that the hTERT promoter and the SV40 enhancer might be used for targeted cancer gene therapy.     

Activity of the human telomerase catalytic subunit (hTERT) gene promoter could be increased by the SV40 enhancer

Telomerase is a ribonucleoprotein complex of which the function is to add telomeric repeats to chromosomal ends. Telomerase consists of two essential components, the telomerase RNA template (hTR) and the catalytic subunit (hTERT). hTERT is expressed only in cells and tissues positive for telomerase activity, i.e., tumor and fetal cells. The aim of this study is to test the increased telomerase promoter activity for cancer gene therapy in adenovirus vector. We cloned the hTERT promoter in place of the SV40 promoter in the pGL3-contol vector to be increased by the SV40 enhancer sequences, resulting in strong expression of luc+ only in telomerase positive cancer cells. Then we transfected the constructed plasmid into a normal human cell line and several cancer cell lines. Through these experiments, we identified the selective and increased expression of the luciferase gene controlled by the hTERT promoter and the SV40 enhancer in the telomerase positive cancer cell lines. To investigate the possibility of utilizing the hTERT promoter and the SV40 enhancer in targeted cancer gene therapy, we constructed an adenovirus vector expressing HSV-TK controlled by the hTERT promoter and the SV40 enhancer for the induction of specific telomerase positive cancer cell death. NSCLC cells infected by Ad-hT-TK-enh were more significantly suppressed and induced apoptosis than those infected by Ad-hT-TK. Telomerase is activated in 80 approximately 90% of cancers, so adenovirus with increasing telomerase promoter activity might be used for targeted cancer gene therapy using suicide genes. These results show that the hTERT promoter and the SV40 enhancer might be used for targeted cancer gene therapy.