Expression of telomerase activity, telomerase RNA component and telomerase catalytic subunit gene in lung cancer.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate whether telomerase activity, human telomerase RNA (HTR) and human telomerase reverse transcriptase (HTERT) expression were associated with tumor development in lung cancer and whether telomerase is regulated at gene level or transcriptional level.


METHODS
Expression of HTR and HTERT was detected by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) in 68 human lung cancer and in 68 adjacent-neoplatic lung tissues. And telomerase activity was examined by a quantitative telomeric repeat amplification protocol (TRAP).


RESULTS
In 68 lung cancer tissues, telomerase activity, HTR and HTERT were expressed in 79%, 98.5% and 91.2% respectively, whereas all adjacent non-neoplastic lung tissues were telomerase negative. Most normal lung tissues expressed HTR (91.2%) and HTERT was detected in only 7 of 68 non-neoplastic tissues.


CONCLUSIONS
The relatively high frequency of telomerase activity in lung cancer whereas the detection of no telomerase activity in normal lung tissues suggested that telomerase may play an important role in tumorigenesis of lung cancer. Compared to HTR, HTERT expression was better associated with telomerase activity with a concordance of 88.9%. Telomerase activity may be regulated at transcription level or translation level.
Chen
Weiwei
W
Cancer Institute, First Hospital of Huaxi Medical Center, Sichuan University, Sichuan 610041, China.
Xiong
Xiaoxiong
X
Zhou
Hongyuan
H
Zhou
Qinghua
Q
D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D015971:Gene Expression Regulation, Enzymologic; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D006801:Humans; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics*; D012313:RNA / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D019098:Telomerase / Q000235:genetics*
D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D012313:RNA; D019098:Telomerase