TERT拼接的遗传调节通过改变细胞寿命和复制潜力来影响癌症风险
Oscar Florez-Vargas1, Michelle Ho1, Maxwell H Hogshead1
1Laboratory of Translational Genomics, DCEG, National Cancer Institute, Rockville, MD, USA.
Nature communications
|February 16, 2025
概括
端粒酶逆转录酶 (TERT) 基因中的遗传变异,特别是VNTR6-1和rs10069690,影响TERT拼接和表达. 这些TERT变异与癌症风险和端粒长度有关,影响细胞寿命.
科学领域:
- 遗传学 是一个遗传学.
- 分子生物学分子生物学
- 癌症研究 癌症研究
背景情况:
- 染色体5p15.33区域含有端粒酶逆转录酶 (TERT) 基因,已知与各种癌症风险相关的生殖系变异.
- 全基因组关联研究 (GWAS) 在这个区域发现了重要的信号,但功能机制仍然不完全理解.
研究的目的:
- 描述TERT内部6中的一个变数串联重复 (VNTR6-1) 和它与已知的GWAS信号的关系.
- 阐明VNTR6-1和rs10069690对TERT表达,替代拼接和细胞表型的功能影响.
- 研究这些功能变异与多种癌症风险和与年龄相关的端粒缩短的关联.
主要方法:
- 变量数串重复 (VNTR) 分析和与GWAS信号的链接不平衡映射.
- 生物信息学分析,以预测变异对RNA拼接和G-四重复形成的影响.
- 在细胞系中进行CRISPR/Cas9基因编辑,以评估VNTR6-1的功能作用.
- 用G-quadruplex (G4) 稳定配体进行治疗,以研究拼接调节.
主要成果:
- 在VNTR6-1等位基因与GWAS信号rs2242652和rs10069690.0之间检测到强烈的联系.
- rs10069690-T基因组促进了4号内子的保留,而VNTR6-1-Long基因组扩展了6号内子中的G-四重复,这两种基因组都会影响TERT拼接和通过替代拼接和无意中介衰变的TERT拼接和表达.
- 细胞系中的VNTR6-1删除增加了TERT全长 (FL) 与TERT-β异型的比率,促进了细胞亡并减少了增殖.
- G4稳定干将拼接从TERT-FL转移到TERT-β,表明VNTR6-1充当了一个拼接开关.
结论:
- 功能变异VNTR6-1和rs10069690,以及它们的单元型,与多种癌症风险和与年龄相关的端粒缩短有关.
- 这些TERT变异调节TERT拼接,可能微调细胞寿命和复制潜力.
- 这些发现提供了TERT和癌症风险的共同遗传变异之间的机制联系,受细胞应激和暴露的影响.
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