title: Telomere-based DNA damage responses: a new approach to melanoma.
abstract: Melanoma is the most fatal skin cancer, often highly resistant to chemotherapy. Here we show that treatment with an 11-base DNA oligonucleotide homologous to the telomere 3' overhang sequence (T-oligo) induces apoptosis of several established human melanoma cell lines, including the aggressive MM-AN line, whereas normal human melanocytes exposed to the same or higher T-oligo concentrations show only transient cell cycle arrest, implying that malignant cells are more sensitive to T-oligo effects. When MM-AN cells were briefly exposed to T-oligo in culture and injected into the flank or tail vein of SCID mice, eventual tumor volume and number of metastases were reduced 85-95% compared with control mice. Similarly, T-oligos administered intralesionally or systemically selectively inhibited the growth of previously established MM-AN tumor nodules in the flank and peritoneal cavity by 85 to 90% without detectable toxicity. We previously showed that T-oligos act through ATM, p95/Nbs1, E2F1, p16INK4A, p53, and the p53 homologue p73 to modulate downstream effectors and now additionally demonstrate striking down-regulation of the inhibitor of apoptosis protein livin/ML-IAP. We suggest that T-oligo mimics a physiologic DNA damage signal that is frequently masked in malignant cells and thereby activates innate cancer prevention responses. T-oligos may provide a novel therapeutic approach to melanoma.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts 02118-2394, USA.
authors.forename: Neelu
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Puri
authors.forename: Mark S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Eller
authors.forename: H Randolph
authors.initials: HR
authors.lastname: Byers
authors.forename: Sarah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Dykstra
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kubera
authors.forename: Barbara A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Gilchrest
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000187:drug effects; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D049109:Cell Proliferation / Q000187:drug effects; D004249:DNA Damage / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics*; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic / Q000187:drug effects; D006801:Humans; D008545:Melanoma / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology*; D051379:Mice; D016513:Mice, SCID; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000473:pathology; D009838:Oligodeoxyribonucleotides / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000235:genetics / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D016615:Telomere / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D009838:Oligodeoxyribonucleotides