title: Correlation between p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase and human telomerase reverse transcriptase in sarcomas.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  One of the major components of telomerase is the human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) as the catalytic protein. hTERT mRNA expression are reported to be associated with prognosis and tumor progression in several sarcomas. However, there is no clear understanding of the mechanisms of hTERT in human sarcomas. Recent studies have suggested that signals transmitted through p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) can increase or decrease hTERT transcription in human cells. The purpose of this study was to analyse the correlation between p38 MAPK and hTERT in sarcoma samples.
  
  
  METHODS
  We investigated 36 soft tissue malignant fibrous histiocytomas (MFH), 24 liposarcomas (LS) and 9 bone MFH samples for hTERT and p38 MAPK expression. Quantitative detection of hTERT and p38 MAPK was performed by RT-PCR.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There was a significant positive correlation between the values of hTERT and p38 MAPK in all samples (r = 0.445, p = 0.0001), soft tissue MFH (r = 0.352, p = 0.0352), LS (r = 0.704, p = 0.0001) and bone MFH samples (r = 0.802, p = 0.0093). Patients who had a higher than average expression of p38 MAPK had a significantly worse prognosis than other patients (p = 0.0036).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  p38 MAPK may play a role in up-regulation of hTERT, and therefore, p38 MAPK may be a useful marker in the assessment of hTERT and patients' prognosis in sarcomas.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, National Hospital Organization Kure Medical Center and Chugoku Cancer Center: 3-1, Aoyamacho, Kure, Hiroshima, 7370023 Japan. matsuot@kure-nh.go.jp
authors.forename: Toshihiro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Matsuo
authors.forename: Shoji
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Shimose
authors.forename: Tadahiko
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kubo
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Fujimori
authors.forename: Yuji
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yasunaga
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sugita
authors.forename: Mitsuo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ochi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D051677:Histiocytoma, Malignant Fibrous / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011379:Prognosis; D019098:Telomerase / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D048051:p38 Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D048051:p38 Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases; C509186:TERT protein, human; D019098:Telomerase