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hTERT gene dosage correlates with telomerase activity in human lung cancer cell lines
Gabriele Saretzki1, Simone Petersen, Iver Petersen
1Deptartment of Gerontology, University of Newcastle, Wolfson Research Centre, Newcastle General Hospital, Westgate Road, Newcastle upon Tyne NE4 6BE, UK.
Abstract:
Maintenance of telomeres, most often by telomerase, is a necessary prerequisite for immortality of eukaryotic cells. To better understand the mechanisms of telomerase up-regulation during tumorigenesis, we analysed the gene dosage of hTERT on chromosome 5p15, a region known to be overrepresented in a variety of malignancies, in 20 lung cancer cell lines by Southern blotting, fluorescence in-situ hybridization, and comparative genomic hybridization. We found a significant correlation between hTERT gene dosage, hTERT mRNA expression and telomerase activity. Imbalances of chromosome 5p may exert functionally relevant hTERT gene dosage effects in human lung cancer.