Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 25, 2025

Utilizing Murine Inducible Telomerase Alleles in the Studies of Tissue Degeneration/Regeneration and Cancer
Published on: April 13, 2015
TERC promotes non-small cell lung cancer progression by facilitating the nuclear localization of TERT
Haohui Sun1, Xiaodi Li1, Qian Long1,2
1State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China and Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Medicine, Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510060, China.
Abstract:
The core of telomerase consists of the protein subunit telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) and the telomerase RNA component (TERC). So far, the role of TERC in cancer development has remained elusive. Here, we found TERC expression elevated in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) tissues, which was associated with disease progression and poor prognosis in patients. Using NSCLC cell lines and xenograft models, we showed that knockdown of TERC caused cell cycle arrest, and inhibition of cell proliferation and migration. Mechanistically, TERC was exported to the cytoplasm by nuclear RNA export factor 1 (NXF1), where it mediated the interaction of TERT with other telomerase subunits. Depletion of TERC hindered the assembly and subsequent nuclear localization of the telomerase complex, preventing TERT from functioning in telomere maintenance and transcription regulation. Our findings suggest that TERC is a potential biomarker for NSCLC diagnosis and prognosis and can be a target for NSCLC treatment.
More Related Videos
06:00Through the Looking Glass: Time-lapse Microscopy and Longitudinal Tracking of Single Cells to Study Anti-cancer Therapeutics
Published on: May 14, 2016
11:39Subcellular Fractionation of Primary Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia Cells to Monitor Nuclear/Cytoplasmic Protein Trafficking
Published on: October 23, 2019
Related Concept Videos
The Tumor Microenvironment
Nuclear Localization Signals and Import
lncRNA - Long Non-coding RNAs
Cancer-Critical Genes II: Tumor Suppressor Genes
When the function of certain critical genes, especially those involved in cell cycle regulation and cell growth signaling cascades, gets disrupted, it upsets the cell cycle progression. Such cells with unchecked cell cycles start proliferating uncontrollably and eventually develop into tumors.
Such genes that act...
Regulation of Nuclear Protein Sorting
The Nucleolus