LINE-1 induces hTERT and ensures telomere maintenance in tumour cell lines.
Oncogene
; 35(1): 94-104, 2016 Jan 07.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-25798839
ABSTRACT
A hallmark of cancer cells is an activated telomere maintenance mechanism, which allows prolonged survival of the malignant cells. In more than 80% of tumours, telomeres are elongated by the enzyme telomerase, which adds de novo telomere repeats to the ends of chromosomes. Cancer cells are also characterized by expression of active LINE-1 elements (L1s, long interspersed nuclear elements-1). L1 elements are abundant retrotransposons in the eukaryotic genome that are primarily known for facilitating aberrant recombination. Using L1-knockdown (KD), we show for the first time that L1 is critical for telomere maintenance in telomerase-positive tumour cells. The reduced length of telomeres in the L1-KD-treated cells correlated with an increased rate of telomere dysfunction foci, a reduced expression of shelterin proteins and an increased rate of anaphase bridges. The decreased telomere length was associated with a decreased telomerase activity and decreased telomerase mRNA level; the latter was increased upon L1 overexpression. L1-KD also led to a decrease in mRNA and protein expression of cMyc and KLF-4, two main transcription factors of telomerase and altered mRNA levels of other stem-cell-associated proteins such as CD44 and hMyb, as well as a corresponding reduced growth of spheroids. The KD of KLF-4 or cMyc decreased the level of L1-ORF1 mRNA, suggesting a specific reciprocal regulation with L1. Thus, our findings contribute to the understanding of L1 as a pathogenicity factor in cancer cells. As L1 is only expressed in pathophysiological conditions, L1 now appears to be target in the rational treatment of telomerase-positive cancer.
Texto completo:
1
Colección:
01-internacional
Base de datos:
MEDLINE
Asunto principal:
Ribonucleoproteínas
/
Telómero
/
Telomerasa
/
Elementos de Nucleótido Esparcido Largo
Límite:
Animals
/
Humans
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Oncogene
Asunto de la revista:
BIOLOGIA MOLECULAR
/
NEOPLASIAS
Año:
2016
Tipo del documento:
Article
País de afiliación:
Austria