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     

人端粒酶催化亚基hTERT基因启动子的克隆

为了确定人端粒酶催化亚基 h TERT基因的启动子结构特征 ,采用 Panhandle PCR技术 ,从正常人外周血单核细胞基因组 DNA中扩增 h TERT基因 5′端上游旁侧序列 ,结果获得了 h TERT基因翻译起始位点上游 2 0 90 bp的基因组 DNA序列。序列分析表明 h TERT基因的启动子区域缺少典型真核启动子的核心元件 ( TATA box和 CAAT box) ,但含有多个已知转录因子蛋白结合的核心序列 ,如 E box及 Sp1核心序列。提示 h TERT基因的表达可能受特殊的转录因子调控 ,这些转录因子的激活可能与癌变细胞中 h TERT重新组成型表达有关     

Identification of a functional vitamin D response element in the human insulin-like growth factor binding protein-3 promoter

1,25-Dihydroxyvitamin D3 [1,25-(OH)2D3] plays a critical role in maintaining calcium and phosphate homeostasis and bone formation but also exhibits antiproliferative activity on many cancer cells, including prostate cancer. We have shown that the antiproliferative actions of 1,25-(OH)2D3 in the LNCaP human prostate cancer cell line are mediated in part by induction of IGF binding protein-3 (IGFBP-3). The purpose of this study was to determine the molecular mechanism involved in 1,25-(OH)2D3 regulation of IGFBP-3 expression and to identify the putative vitamin D response element (VDRE) in the IGFBP-3 promoter. We cloned approximately 6 kb of the IGFBP-3 promoter sequence and demonstrated its responsiveness to 1,25-(OH)2D3 in transactivation assays. Computer analysis identified a putative VDRE between -3296/-3282 containing the direct repeat motif GGTTCA ccg GGTGCA that is 92% identical with the rat 24-hydroxylase distal VDRE. In EMSAs, the vitamin D receptor (VDR) showed strong binding to the putative IGFBP-3 VDRE in the presence of 1,25-(OH)2D3. Supershift assays confirmed the presence of VDR in the IGFBP-3 VDRE complex. Chromatin immunoprecipitation assay demonstrated that 1,25-(OH)2D3 recruited the VDR/retinoid X receptor heterodimer to the VDRE site in the natural IGFBP-3 promoter in intact cells. In transactivation assays, the putative VDRE coupled to a heterologous simian virus 40 promoter construct was induced 2-fold by 1,25-(OH)2D3. Mutations in the VDRE resulted in a loss of inducibility confirming the critical hexameric sequence. In conclusion, we have identified a functional VDRE in the distal region of the human IGFBP-3 promoter. The induction of IGFBP-3 by 1,25-(OH)2D3 appears to be directly mediated via VDR interaction with this VDRE.     

Hypoxia-inducible factor 1 mediates upregulation of telomerase (hTERT)

Hypoxia occurs during the development of the placenta in the first trimester and correlates with both trophoblast differentiation and the induction of telomerase activity through hTERT expression. We sought to determine the mechanism of regulation of hTERT expression during hypoxia. We show that hypoxia-inducible factor 1alpha (HIF-1alpha) and hTERT expression in the human placenta decrease with gestational age and that these are overexpressed in preeclamptic placenta, a major complication of pregnancy. Hypoxia not only transactivates the hTERT promoter activity but also enhances endogenous hTERT expression. The hTERT promoter region between -165 and +51 contains two HIF-1 consensus motifs, and in vitro reporter assays show that these are essential for hTERT transactivation by HIF-1. Introduction of an antisense oligonucleotide for HIF-1 diminishes hTERT expression during hypoxia, indicating that upregulation of hTERT by hypoxia is directly mediated through HIF-1. Our results provide persuasive evidence that the regulation of hTERT promoter activity by HIF-1 represents a mechanism for trophoblast growth during hypoxia and suggests that this may be a generalized response to hypoxia in various human disorders including resistance to cancer therapeutics by upregulating telomerase.     

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.