端粒酶与肿瘤生物学研究

端粒是染色体末端由ＤＮＡ和蛋白质组成的特异结构，是细胞的“分裂时钟”。端粒酶是维持端粒长度的逆转录酶，对细胞增殖、衰老及永生化和癌变起重要作用。研究端粒酶的活性表达及其调节和作用机制，对阐明细胞癌变、肿瘤演进的机理和肿瘤的诊断、治疗有重要的意义     

端粒、端粒酶和肿瘤发生

端粒是真核生物染色体末端的DNA序列 ,对染色体的稳定起重要作用。其长度缩短或丢失可导致细胞的死亡或恶变。端粒酶是一种特殊的核糖核蛋白逆转录酶 ,它的活性可以自身RNA为模板合成端粒DNA ,加到染色体的末端 ,以维持端粒的长度 ,使细胞永生。端粒和端粒酶对于细胞的生存和肿瘤的发生具有非常重要的意义 ,它们之间的关系已成为近年来研究的热点     

端粒、端粒酶和肿瘤发生的关系

端粒是真核生物染色体的天然末端 ,它对染色体的稳定起重要作用。其长度缩短或丢失可导致细胞死亡或恶变。端粒酶是一种特殊的核糖核蛋白逆转录酶 ,它的活性可以自身 RNA为模板合成端粒 DNA加到染色体末端 ,以维持端粒长度 ,使细胞永生。端粒及端粒酶与肿瘤发生的关系成为近年来的研究热点。端粒酶可望成为肿瘤治疗领域的新的靶分子。本文就这一领域里的新进展作一综述     

端粒、端粒酶、衰老与癌变

端粒和端粒酶与细胞增殖密切相关，在衰老和癌变过程中发挥重要作用。端粒的结构和长度变化、端粒酶的表达水平在众多相关蛋白所组成的复杂调控网络的作用下保持平衡。端粒酶也通过非端粒依赖性机制发挥细胞保护作用，可以促进干细胞激活和增殖。     

端粒,端粒酶和肿瘤发生的关系

端粒是真核生物染色体的天然末端,它对染色体的稳定起重要作用。其长度缩短或丢失可导致细胞死亡或恶变。端粒酶是一种特殊的核糖核蛋白逆转录酶,它的活性可以自身ＲＮＡ为模板合成端粒ＤＮＡ加到染色体末端,以维持端粒长度,使细胞永生。端粒及端粒酶与肿瘤发生的关系成为近年来的研究热点。端粒酶可望成为肿瘤治疗领域的新的靶分子。本就这一领域里的新进展作一综述。     

端粒、端粒酶与细胞衰老及永生化

正常细胞体外培养时,表现为有限生长特性,经一定的细胞倍增次数后,失去了对促分裂因子刺激的反应,不可逆地失去增殖能力而停止分裂,细胞开始衰老的历程.目前认为染色体末端(端粒)的缺失会使细胞逐渐失去增殖能力,导致细胞的衰老和死亡.人端粒酶催化亚单位(hTERT)可以激活端粒酶的活性,延长染色体末端DNA,维持基因组的稳定.端粒、端粒酶、hTERT的发现为细胞衰老的研究提供了新的思路,同时也应用于永生化细胞系的建立,特别是在组织工程种子细胞生物性能研究和细胞库的建立中将发挥重要作用.     

人类急性髓样白血病中的端粒酶活性由分化诱导试剂导致的端粒酶活性抑制

人类染色体的终末区域一端粒在大多数正常体细胞中随每次细胞分裂而缩短。端粒酶,一种合成端粒DNA到染色体末端的核糖核蛋白在生殖细胞和几乎所有肿瘤细胞中被活化。端粒酶维持端粒长度的稳定性,导致细胞无限增生。本研究中作者检查了56例伴有细胞遗传改变的急性髓样白血病(AML)病人中的端粒酶活性,结果在56例病人中有41例     

胃、结直肠癌前病变及肿瘤中的端粒酶活性

最近的证据表明端粒酶活性为细胞永生态(immortality)所需,而细胞永生态又为维持大多数恶性肿瘤细胞的无限生长能力所必需。胃肠癌发病的步骤之一很可能是细胞获得永生态。为了了解胃肠癌恶性度的发生、发展是否取决于端粒酶活化并决定在癌变的哪一期细胞可检测到端粒酶活性,作者应用端粒重复扩增模型方法(TRAP)分析了胃、结直肠癌及其癌前病变中的端粒酶活性。     

端粒酶活性调控的研究进展

端粒酶是一种ＲＮＡ－蛋白质复合物,它通过逆转录过程将富含Ｇ的单链ＤＮＡ重复序列合成至染色体末端。端粒酶的激活和抑制影响到端粒长度的改变,进而对衰老和肿瘤发展有所贡献。建立其活性调控模型,讨论细胞内外因子及其自身组分对它活性的影响,将能够给予关于端粒酶的应用性研究奠定重要基础。     

蛋白质SUMO化和泛素化修饰的关系

泛素化和SUMO化是蛋白质翻译后修饰的重要方式,广泛参与调节蛋白质功能和细胞生命活动各个环节.多聚泛素化降解蛋白质,而SUMO化主要调节蛋白质的相互作用和定位等.在不同情况下,SUMO化和泛素化既可协同调节蛋白质功能,也可相互拮抗. 最近研究发现,某些底物的SUMO化能够激活体内一类新发现的SUMO依赖的泛素连接酶,启动泛素-蛋白酶体途径降解底物, 导致蛋白质SUMO化和泛素化的关系进一步精细化和复杂化.     

Telomere maintenance by telomerase and by recombination can coexist in human cells

Immortal human cells maintain their telomeres by two independent mechanisms, a prevalent one dependent on de novo synthesis of telomeric DNA by telomerase, and a rarer one based on telomere recombination [alternative lengthening of telomeres (ALT)]. Studies with yeast have indicated that expression of telomerase inhibits telomere recombination. In the present study, we have investigated whether expression of telomerase in cells that use ALT would similarly reveal dominance of telomere elongation by telomerase over telomere recombination. Telomerase-negative WI38 VA13/2RA ALT cells were reconstituted for telomerase activity through ectopic expression of the enzyme subunits, hTERT and hTR, and the presence and function of telomerase and ALT were monitored during long term cell growth by enzymatic assays, detection of the ALT-associated PML bodies (APBs) and analysis of telomere dynamics. Our results indicate that telomerase activity and APBs persisted in the cells over at least 90 population doublings. The activity of both pathways on telomeres was determined by analysis of telomere length versus time by gel electrophoresis and in situ hybridization. ALT cells are characterized by very heterogeneous telomeres with a much longer average size than the telomeres of telomerase-positive cells. Telomere dynamics in our cells were compatible with both ALT and telomerase being biologically active since the long telomeres typical of ALT were maintained, while short telomeres, thought to be the preferential substrate of telomerase, were elongated. These findings, indicating that human cells may be capable of concomitantly utilizing both mechanisms of telomere maintenance without effects on their growth and viability, have implications for cancer therapy.     

Kinetics of DNA replication and telomerase reaction at a single-seeded telomere in human cells

In most cancer cells, telomerase is activated to elongate telomere DNA, thereby ensuring numerous rounds of cell divisions. It is thus important to understand how telomerase and the replication fork react with telomeres in human cells. However, the highly polymorphic and repetitive nature of the nucleotide sequences in human subtelomeric regions hampers the precise analysis of sequential events taking place at telomeres in S phase. Here, we have established HeLa cells harboring a single-seeded telomere abutted by a unique subtelomere DNA sequence, which has enabled us to specifically focus on the seeded telomere. We have also developed a modified chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) method that uses restriction digestion instead of sonication to fragment chromatin DNA (RES-ChIP), and a method for immunoprecipitating 5-bromo-2'-deoxyuridine (BrdU)-labeled single-stranded DNA by incubating DNA with anti-BrdU antibody in the nondenaturing condition. We have shown that DNA replication of the seeded telomere takes place during a relatively narrow time window in S phase, and telomerase synthesizes telomere DNA after the replication. Moreover, we have demonstrated that the telomerase catalytic subunit TERT associates with telomeres before telomere DNA replication. These results provide a temporal and spatial framework for understanding DNA replication and telomerase reaction at human telomeres.     

Telomeres in evolution and evolution of telomeres

This paper examines telomeres from an evolutionary perspective. In the monocot plant order Asparagales two evolutionary switch-points in telomere sequence are known. The first occurred when the Arabidopsis-type telomere was replaced by a telomere based on a repeat motif more typical of vertebrates. The replacement is associated with telomerase activity, but the telomerase has low fidelity and this may have implications for the binding of telomeric proteins. At the second evolutionary switch-point, the telomere and its mode of synthesis are replaced by an unknown mechanism. Elsewhere in plants (Sessia, Vestia, Cestrum) and in arthropods, the telomere “typical” of the group is lost. Probably many other groups with “unusual” telomeres will be found. We question whether telomerase is indeed the original end-maintenance system and point to other candidate processes involving t-loops, t-circles, rolling circle replication and recombination. Possible evolutionary outcomes arising from the loss of telomerase activity in alternative lengthening of telomere (ALT) systems are discussed. We propose that elongation of minisatellite repeats using recombination/replication processes initially substitutes for the loss of telomerase function. Then in more established ALT groups, subtelomeric satellite repeats may replace the telomeric minisatellite repeat whilst maintaining the recombination/replication mechanisms for telomere elongation. Thereafter a retrotransposition-based end-maintenance system may become established. The influence of changing sequence motifs on the properties of the telomere cap is discussed. The DNA and protein components of telomeres should be regarded – as with any other chromosome elements – as evolving and co-evolving over time and responding to changes in the genome and to environmental stresses. We describe how telomere dysfunction, resulting in end-to-end chromosome fusions, can have a profound effect on chromosome evolution and perhaps even speciation.     

Tel1(ATM) and Rad3(ATR) phosphorylate the telomere protein Ccq1 to recruit telomerase and elongate telomeres in fission yeast

In fission yeast, the DNA damage sensor kinases Tel1(ATM) and Rad3(ATR) exist at telomeres and are required for telomere maintenance, but the biological role they play at telomeres is not known. Here we show that the telomere protein Ccq1 is phosphorylated at Thr 93 (threonine residue at amino acid 93) by Tel1(ATM) and Rad3(ATR) both in vitro and in vivo. A ccq1 mutant in which alanine was substituted for Thr 93 failed to recruit telomerase to telomeres and showed gradual shortening of telomeres. These results indicate that the direct phosphorylation of Ccq1 Thr 93 by Tel1 and Rad3 is involved in the recruitment of telomerase to elongate telomeres.     

Pilocytic astrocytomas have telomere-associated promyelocytic leukemia bodies without alternatively lengthened telomeres

Telomere maintenance by either telomerase activity or the recombination-mediated alternative lengthening of telomeres (ALT) mechanism is a hallmark of cancer. Tumors that use ALT as their telomere maintenance mechanism are characterized by long telomeres of great heterogeneity in length and by specific nuclear structures of co-localized promyelocytic leukemia protein and telomere DNA, called ALT-associated promyelocytic leukemia bodies (APBs). Recent advances have revealed a direct role for APBs in telomere recombination in ALT-positive cells. In this study, we investigated the possibility that APBs could occur before the long 'alternatively' lengthened telomeres arise, particularly in low-grade tumors. We measured APBs, telomere length, and telomerase activity in 64 astrocytomas inclusive of grade 1-4 tumors. Almost all grade 1-3 tumors (93%) were APB-positive using published criteria. Grade 2-3 APB-positive tumors also had long telomeres and were confirmed as ALT positive. However, grade 1 tumors lacked long telomeres and were therefore classified as ALT negative, but positive for telomere-associated promyelocytic leukemia bodies (TPB). This is the first report of a TPB-positive but ALT-negative tumor, and suggests that low-grade tumors have the foundation for recombinational telomere repair, as in ALT. Further work is warranted to characterize the TPB-positive phenotype in other early malignancies, as well as to determine whether TPBs predispose to telomere maintenance by ALT.     

Rad54 is dispensable for the ALT pathway

Some immortal cells use the alternative lengthening of telomeres (ALT) pathway to maintain their telomeres instead of telomerase. Previous studies revealed that homologous recombination (HR) contributes to the ALT pathway. To further elucidate molecular mechanisms, we inactivated Rad54 involved in HR, in mouse ALT embryonic stem (ES) cells. Although Rad54-deficient ALT ES cells showed radiosensitivity in line with expectation, cell growth and telomeres were maintained for more than 200 cell divisions. Furthermore, although MMC-stimulated sister chromatid exchange (SCE) was suppressed in the Rad54-deficient ALT ES cells, ALT-associated telomere SCE was not affected. This is the first genetic evidence that mouse Rad54 is dispensable for the ALT pathway.     

A postulated role of p130 in telomere maintenance by human papillomavirus oncoprotein E7

High-risk human papillomaviruses (HR-HPVs) infections is highly associated with the development of cervical cancer. It is now recognized that telomere length maintenance or extension is indispensable for carcinogenesis. The early oncoproteins E6 and E7 are the main malignant transformation factors of HR-HPVs and they maintain telomeres by different mechanisms, of which E6 protein activating telomerase is well documented. Reports showed that E7 protein utilized an alternative lengthen of telomere (ALT) mechanism to restore telomere length, yet the underlying molecular basis remains largely unknown. We propose that degradation of tumor suppressor pRb family member p130 plays an essential role in E7-regulated telomere extension by ALT. ALT is a mechanism based on homologous recombination (HR) between telomere sister chromatids, and a number of proteins involved in the HR pathway, such as MRN [MRE11 (meiotic recombination 11)-Rad50-NBS1 (Nijmegen breakage syndrome 1)] complex are required for the ALT pathway. Rb family member p130 could inhibit ALT by interacting with Rad50, while HPV E7 could activate ALT by degrading p130. We will make E7 mutants which are defective in p130 degradation to test whether these cells have a limited life span. Besides, immunofluorescence assay will show an ALT-related promyelocytic leukemia (PML) body (APBs) in E7-expressing cells. Although cervical cancer usually has high telomerase activities since the expressing of HPV E6, the anti-telomerase therapy will be unavailable for cervical cancer since it may activate E7-induced ALT. Our hypothesis not only enrich the knowledge of the regulation of ALT, but also indicate that p130 may serve as a potential suppressor of ALT, and gene therapy of p130 may be used in cervical cancers.     

Telomere uncapping and alternative lengthening of telomeres

A substantial number of human tumors utilize a telomerase-independent telomere length maintenance mechanism referred to as alternative lengthening of telomeres (ALT). Although it is known that ALT is a telomere-specific, loss of function phenotype, which involves lengthening of telomeres by homologous recombination-mediated replication of telomeric DNA, many of the details of these processes require elucidation. Here we discuss the current literature on ALT and telomere capping, specifically focusing on how alterations in telomere capping functions may permit activation of ALT and explain the phenotypic characteristics of cells in which this occurs.     

Telomere loss: mitotic clock or genetic time bomb?

The Holy Grail of gerontologists investigating cellular senescence is the mechanism responsible for the finite proliferative capacity of somatic cells. In 1973, Olovnikov proposed that cells lose a small amount of DNA following each round of replication due to the inability of DNA polymerase to fully replicate chromosome ends (telomeres) and that eventually a critical deletion causes cell death. Recent observations showing that telomeres of human somatic cells act as a mitotic clock, shortening with age both in vitro and in vivo in a replication dependent manne, support this theory's premise. In addition, since telomeres stabilize chromosome ends against recombination, their loss could explain the increased frequency of dicentric chromosomes observed in late passage (senescent) fibroblasts and provide a checkpoint for regulated cell cycle exit. Sperm telomeres are longer than somatic telomeres and are maintained with age, suggesting that germ line cells may express telomerase, the ribonucleoprotein enzyme known to maintain telomere length in immortal unicellar eukaryotes. As predicted, telomerase activity has been found in immortal, transformed human cells and tumour cell lines, but not in normal somatic cells. Telomerase activation may be a late, obligate event in immortalization since many transformed cells and tumour tissues have critically short telomeres. Thus, telomere length and telomerase activity appear to be markers of the replicative history and proliferative potential of cells; the intriguing possibility remains that telomere loss is a genetic time bomb and hence causally involved in cell senescence and immortalization.