Telomerase, p53 and PCNA activity in osteosarcoma.
OBJECTIVE
The aim of this study was to investigate telomerase activity and to assess the correlation between telomerase activity, tumor proliferative activity and p53 overexpression in osteosarcoma tumor samples.


METHODS
Using a telomerase polymerase chain reaction-enzyme-linked immunoassay based on the telomeric repeat amplification protocol method, we examined telomerase activity in 26 primary osteosarcoma specimens. P53 overexpression was identified using immunohistochemical staining, and tumor proliferative activity was assessed by immunohistochemical staining of PCNA.


RESULTS
Telomerase activity was detected at a relatively low level in five of 26 osteosarcoma tissue specimens. P53 was detected in eight of 21 cases. There was no significant correlation between telomerase activity and p53 overexpression (p=0.325). There was a significant correlation between PCNA staining and telomerase activity (p=0.0075).


CONCLUSIONS
Difference between the telomerase activity and p53 overexpression in osteosarcoma suggests that p53 and telomerase may not cooperate in tumor proliferation. Correlation of telomerase activity to PCNA expression suggests that telomerase activity may also useful for evaluate proliferative activity in osteosarcoma.
Nakashima
H
H
Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Nagoya University School of Medicine, Nagoya, Japan. h-nakashima@hospy.or.jp
Nishida
Y
Y
Sugiura
H
H
Katagiri
H
H
Yonekawa
M
M
Yamada
Y
Y
Iwata
H
H
Nagasaka
T
T
Ishiguro
N
N
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001859:Bone Neoplasms / Q000737:chemistry / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000276:immunology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012516:Osteosarcoma / Q000737:chemistry / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000276:immunology; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D018809:Proliferating Cell Nuclear Antigen / Q000032:analysis*; D016019:Survival Analysis; D019098:Telomerase / Q000378:metabolism*; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53 / Q000032:analysis*; D015854:Up-Regulation
D018809:Proliferating Cell Nuclear Antigen; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53; D019098:Telomerase