title: Loss of proliferative capacity in a retroviral immortalized human uterine smooth muscle cell line derived from leiomyoma is restored by hTERT overexpression.
abstract: Overexpression of human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) has facilitated establishing in vitro model systems for biological research. The plasmid containing hTERT gene was stably transfected into ULTR cells, a retroviral transformed human uterine leiomyomatous smooth-muscle cell line. Cells that express hTERT, termed as ULTR-hT, shared the morphological characteristics of the parental proliferative ULTR cells. They expressed a set of smooth-muscle-specific genes and had increased proliferation rate and prolonged lifespan. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis revealed a correlation of proliferation rates of ULTR-hT clonal cells with the level of hTERT expression. ULTRhT cells also preserved expression of estrogen, progesterone, and oxytocin receptor genes, confirming a myometrial phenotype. Expression of angiotensin II receptors and nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH) oxidase isoforms were also preserved. Our finding suggests that ULTR-hT cells can be a useful in vitro model for studying human myometrium differentiation both in pregnancy and pathological growth.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, Ohio 45267, USA.
authors.forename: Baojun
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.forename: Leslie
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Myatt
authors.forename: Xiao-Lan
authors.initials: XL
authors.lastname: Cui
mesh_terms: D000704:Analysis of Variance; D015153:Blotting, Western; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor / Q000166:cytology*; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D048430:Cell Shape; D047628:Estrogen Receptor alpha / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D005455:Fluorescent Antibody Technique; D006801:Humans; D009215:Myometrium / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism; D018045:Receptors, Oxytocin / Q000378:metabolism; D011980:Receptors, Progesterone / Q000378:metabolism; D012190:Retroviridae / Q000235:genetics; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D019098:Telomerase / Q000235:genetics*; D014162:Transfection
chemical_list: D047628:Estrogen Receptor alpha; D018045:Receptors, Oxytocin; D011980:Receptors, Progesterone; D019098:Telomerase