Identification of serum anti-human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) auto-antibodies during progression to hepatocellular carcinoma.
Human telomerase reverse transcriptase, hTERT, is the catalytic component of human telomerase. Expression of hTERT confers telomerase activity, indicating that hTERT is the rate-limiting component of human telomerase. Here we report the detection of anti-hTERT auto-antibodies in the sera derived patients with hepatocellular carcinoma using recombinant, purified hTERT as an antigen in an enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The levels of anti-hTERT antibodies in serum correlated with progression to hepatocellular carcinoma. In contrast, we detected only low levels of anti-hTERT auto-antibodies in the sera derived from 18 normal volunteers. The observation of hTERT auto-antibodies in the sera derived from cancer patients suggests that such auto-antibodies constitute novel and specific tumor marker.
Department of Gastroenterology, Kanazawa University Graduate School of Medicine, Takara-Machi 13-1, Japan.
Kenkichi
K
Masutomi
Shuichi
S
Kaneko
Mami
M
Yasukawa
Kuniaki
K
Arai
Seishi
S
Murakami
Kenichi
K
Kobayashi
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001323:Autoantibodies / Q000097:blood*; D015153:Blotting, Western; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000097:blood / Q000201:enzymology / Q000276:immunology*; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D018450:Disease Progression; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D006521:Hepatitis, Chronic / Q000097:blood / Q000201:enzymology / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D007106:Immune Sera; D008103:Liver Cirrhosis / Q000097:blood / Q000201:enzymology / Q000276:immunology; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000097:blood / Q000201:enzymology / Q000276:immunology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D012016:Reference Values; D019098:Telomerase / Q000097:blood* / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*
D001323:Autoantibodies; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D007106:Immune Sera; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D019098:Telomerase