title: Comprehensive Analysis of Interaction Networks of Telomerase Reverse Transcriptase with Multiple Bioinformatic Approaches: Deep Mining the Potential Functions of Telomere and Telomerase.
abstract: Telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) is the protein component of telomerase complex. Evidence has accumulated showing that the nontelomeric functions of TERT are independent of telomere elongation. However, the mechanisms governing the interaction between TERT and its target genes are not clearly revealed. The biological functions of TERT are not fully elucidated and have thus far been underestimated. To further explore these functions, we investigated TERT interaction networks using multiple bioinformatic databases, including BioGRID, STRING, DAVID, GeneCards, GeneMANIA, PANTHER, miRWalk, mirTarBase, miRNet, miRDB, and TargetScan. In addition, network diagrams were built using Cytoscape software. As competing endogenous RNAs (ceRNAs) are endogenous transcripts that compete for the binding of microRNAs (miRNAs) by using shared miRNA recognition elements, they are involved in creating widespread regulatory networks. Therefore, the ceRNA regulatory networks of TERT were also investigated in this study. Interestingly, we found that the three genes PABPC1, SLC7A11, and TP53 were present in both TERT interaction networks and ceRNAs target genes. It was predicted that TERT might play nontelomeric roles in the generation or development of some rare diseases, such as Rift Valley fever and dyscalculia. Thus, our data will help to decipher the interaction networks of TERT and reveal the unknown functions of telomerase in cancer and aging-related diseases.
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Tianjin Medical University , Tianjin, China .|2 Key Laboratory of Cancer Prevention and Therapy, Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute and Hospital , Tianjin, China .
authors.forename: Chunyu
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hou
authors.affiliation: 3 Department of Neurology, Tianjin Medical University , Tianjin, China .
authors.forename: Fei
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Tianjin Medical University , Tianjin, China .
authors.forename: Xuewen
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: 4 Department of Clinical Laboratory, General Hospital, Tianjin Medical University , Tianjin, China .
authors.forename: Guangming
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.affiliation: 5 Department of Genetics, Tianjin Medical University , Tianjin, China .
authors.forename: Feng
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Tianjin Medical University , Tianjin, China .|6 Tianjin Key Laboratory of Cellular and Molecular Immunology, Tianjin Medical University , Tianjin, China .|7 Key Laboratory of Educational Ministry of China, Tianjin Medical University , Tianjin, China .
authors.forename: Xin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Geng
mesh_terms: D019295:Computational Biology / Q000379:methods*; D057225:Data Mining; D019992:Databases as Topic; D063990:Gene Ontology; D053263:Gene Regulatory Networks; D006801:Humans; D058977:Molecular Sequence Annotation; D012313:RNA / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D012984:Software; D019098:Telomerase / Q000235:genetics*; D016615:Telomere / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D012313:RNA; D019098:Telomerase
keywords: aging; bioinformatics; cancer; telomerase; telomere