title: Analysis of telomeric single-strand overhang length in human endometrial cancers.
abstract: The 3' single-strand telomeric overhang (3'-OH) is a key component of telomere structure. Although telomere length has been well analyzed in a variety of human cancers, no information is available on the 3'-OH length in cancers. In the present study, we examined the 3'-OH length in normal and malignant endometria using telomere-oligonucleotide ligation assay. Although 3'-OH lengths varied among patients, 3'-OH length observed in endometrial cancers was significantly shorter than that found in samples derived from normal endometria (P < 0.001: Student's t-test), suggesting that erosion of 3'-OH length induces impaired telomeric integrity and genomic instability, leading to carcinogenesis. Interestingly, we found that the most aggressive subtypes of endometrial cancers harbored significantly longer 3'-OH length than those with non-aggressive subtypes (P < 0.001: Sheffe's test), suggesting that cancer cells with long 3'-OH length have growth advantage due to their stabilized telomere ends. In contrast, we failed to observe an association between overall telomere length and any clinicopathological characteristics of endometrial cancers. These findings suggest that erosion of 3'-OH length, rather than overall telomere length, play roles in endometrial carcinogenesis. Furthermore, long 3'-OH may serve as a molecular marker for aggressive phenotype of tumors.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Graduate School of Kanazawa University, Ishikawa, Japan.
authors.forename: Manabu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hashimoto
authors.forename: Satoru
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kyo
authors.forename: Kenkichi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Masutomi
authors.forename: Yoshiko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Maida
authors.forename: Junko
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sakaguchi
authors.forename: Yasunari
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Mizumoto
authors.forename: Mitsuhiro
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nakamura
authors.forename: William C
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Hahn
authors.forename: Masaki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Inoue
mesh_terms: D015139:Blotting, Southern; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D016889:Endometrial Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016615:Telomere