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Drobyshev A, Modestov A, Suntsova M, Poddubskaya E, Seryakov A, Moisseev A, Sorokin M, Tkachev V, Zakharova G, Simonov A, Zolotovskaia MA, Buzdin A. Pan-cancer experimental characteristic of human transcriptional patterns connected with telomerase reverse transcriptase ( TERT) gene expression status. Front Genet 2024; 15:1401100. [PMID: 38859942 PMCID: PMC11163056 DOI: 10.3389/fgene.2024.1401100] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/18/2024] [Accepted: 05/08/2024] [Indexed: 06/12/2024] Open
Abstract
The TERT gene encodes the reverse transcriptase subunit of telomerase and is normally transcriptionally suppressed in differentiated human cells but reactivated in cancers where its expression is frequently associated with poor survival prognosis. Here we experimentally assessed the RNA sequencing expression patterns associated with TERT transcription in 1039 human cancer samples of 27 tumor types. We observed a bimodal distribution of TERT expression where ∼27% of cancer samples did not express TERT and the rest showed a bell-shaped distribution. Expression of TERT strongly correlated with 1443 human genes including 103 encoding transcriptional factor proteins. Comparison of TERT- positive and negative cancers showed the differential activation of 496 genes and 1975 molecular pathways. Therein, 32/38 (84%) of DNA repair pathways were hyperactivated in TERT+ cancers which was also connected with accelerated replication, transcription, translation, and cell cycle progression. In contrast, the level of 40 positive cell cycle regulator proteins and a set of epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition pathways was specific for the TERT- group suggesting different proliferation strategies for both groups of cancer. Our pilot study showed that the TERT+ group had ∼13% of cancers with C228T or C250T mutated TERT promoter. However, the presence of promoter mutations was not associated with greater TERT expression compared with other TERT+ cancers, suggesting parallel mechanisms of its transcriptional activation in cancers. In addition, we detected a decreased expression of L1 retrotransposons in the TERT+ group, and further decreased L1 expression in promoter mutated TERT+ cancers. TERT expression was correlated with 17 genes encoding molecular targets of cancer therapeutics and may relate to differential survival patterns of TERT- positive and negative cancers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aleksey Drobyshev
- Endocrinology Research Center, Moscow, Russia
- Institute of Personalized Oncology, I. M. Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University, Moscow, Russia
| | - Alexander Modestov
- Institute of Personalized Oncology, I. M. Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University, Moscow, Russia
| | - Maria Suntsova
- Endocrinology Research Center, Moscow, Russia
- Institute of Personalized Oncology, I. M. Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University, Moscow, Russia
| | - Elena Poddubskaya
- Institute of Personalized Oncology, I. M. Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University, Moscow, Russia
- Clinical Center Vitamed, Moscow, Russia
| | | | - Aleksey Moisseev
- Institute of Personalized Oncology, I. M. Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University, Moscow, Russia
| | - Maksim Sorokin
- Endocrinology Research Center, Moscow, Russia
- Institute of Personalized Oncology, I. M. Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University, Moscow, Russia
| | | | - Galina Zakharova
- Institute of Personalized Oncology, I. M. Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University, Moscow, Russia
| | - Aleksander Simonov
- Institute of Personalized Oncology, I. M. Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University, Moscow, Russia
| | - Marianna A. Zolotovskaia
- Endocrinology Research Center, Moscow, Russia
- Institute of Personalized Oncology, I. M. Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University, Moscow, Russia
- Moscow Center for Advanced Studies 20, Moscow, Russia
| | - Anton Buzdin
- Endocrinology Research Center, Moscow, Russia
- Institute of Personalized Oncology, I. M. Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University, Moscow, Russia
- Moscow Center for Advanced Studies 20, Moscow, Russia
- Shemyakin-Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Moscow, Russia
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Liu M, Zhang Y, Jian Y, Gu L, Zhang D, Zhou H, Wang Y, Xu ZX. The regulations of telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) in cancer. Cell Death Dis 2024; 15:90. [PMID: 38278800 PMCID: PMC10817947 DOI: 10.1038/s41419-024-06454-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/22/2023] [Revised: 01/04/2024] [Accepted: 01/08/2024] [Indexed: 01/28/2024]
Abstract
Abnormal activation of telomerase occurs in most cancer types, which facilitates escaping from cell senescence. As the key component of telomerase, telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) is regulated by various regulation pathways. TERT gene changing in its promoter and phosphorylation respectively leads to TERT ectopic expression at the transcription and protein levels. The co-interacting factors play an important role in the regulation of TERT in different cancer types. In this review, we focus on the regulators of TERT and these downstream functions in cancer regulation. Determining the specific regulatory mechanism will help to facilitate the development of a cancer treatment strategy that targets telomerase and cancer cell senescence. As the most important catalytic subunit component of telomerase, TERT is rapidly regulated by transcriptional factors and PTM-related activation. These changes directly influence TERT-related telomere maintenance by regulating telomerase activity in telomerase-positive cancer cells, telomerase assembly with telomere-binding proteins, and recruiting telomerase to the telomere. Besides, there are also non-canonical functions that are influenced by TERT, including the basic biological functions of cancer cells, such as proliferation, apoptosis, cell cycle regulation, initiating cell formation, EMT, and cell invasion. Other downstream effects are the results of the influence of transcriptional factors by TERT. Currently, some small molecular inhibitors of TERT and TERT vaccine are under research as a clinical therapeutic target. Purposeful work is in progress.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mingdi Liu
- Key Laboratory of Pathobiology, Ministry of Education, Jilin University, Changchun, 130021, Jilin, China
| | - Yuning Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Pathobiology, Ministry of Education, Jilin University, Changchun, 130021, Jilin, China
| | - Yongping Jian
- Key Laboratory of Pathobiology, Ministry of Education, Jilin University, Changchun, 130021, Jilin, China
| | - Liting Gu
- Key Laboratory of Pathobiology, Ministry of Education, Jilin University, Changchun, 130021, Jilin, China
| | - Dan Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Pathobiology, Ministry of Education, Jilin University, Changchun, 130021, Jilin, China
| | - Honglan Zhou
- Department of Urology, The First Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, 130021, Jilin, China.
| | - Yishu Wang
- Key Laboratory of Pathobiology, Ministry of Education, Jilin University, Changchun, 130021, Jilin, China.
| | - Zhi-Xiang Xu
- Key Laboratory of Pathobiology, Ministry of Education, Jilin University, Changchun, 130021, Jilin, China.
- Department of Urology, The First Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, 130021, Jilin, China.
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Zhan Y, Ruan X, Liu J, Huang D, Huang J, Huang J, Chun TTS, Ng ATL, Wu Y, Wei G, Jiang H, Xu D, Na R. Genetic Polymorphisms of the Telomerase Reverse Transcriptase Gene in Relation to Prostate Tumorigenesis, Aggressiveness and Mortality: A Cross-Ancestry Analysis. Cancers (Basel) 2023; 15:cancers15092650. [PMID: 37174115 PMCID: PMC10177366 DOI: 10.3390/cancers15092650] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/27/2023] [Revised: 04/23/2023] [Accepted: 05/03/2023] [Indexed: 05/15/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) has been consistently associated with prostate cancer (PCa) risk. However, few studies have explored the association between TERT variants and PCa aggressiveness. METHODS Individual and genetic data were obtained from UK Biobank and a Chinese PCa cohort (Chinese Consortium for Prostate Cancer Genetics). RESULTS A total of 209,694 Europeans (14,550 PCa cases/195,144 controls) and 8873 Chinese (4438 cases/4435 controls) were involved. Nineteen susceptibility loci with five novel ones (rs144704378, rs35311994, rs34194491, rs144020096, and rs7710703) were detected in Europeans, whereas seven loci with two novel ones (rs7710703 and rs11291391) were discovered in the Chinese cohort. The index SNP for the two ancestries was rs2242652 (odds ratio [OR] = 1.16, 95% confidence interval [CI]:1.12-1.20, p = 4.12 × 10-16) and rs11291391 (OR = 1.73, 95%CI:1.34-2.25, p = 3.04 × 10-5), respectively. SNPs rs2736100 (OR = 1.49, 95%CI:1.31-1.71, p = 2.91 × 10-9) and rs2853677 (OR = 1.74, 95%CI:1.52-1.98, p = 3.52 × 10-16) were found significantly associated with aggressive PCa, while rs35812074 was marginally related to PCa death (hazard ratio [HR] = 1.61, 95%CI:1.04-2.49, p = 0.034). Gene-based analysis showed a significant association of TERT with PCa (European: p = 3.66 × 10-15, Chinese: p = 0.043) and PCa severity (p = 0.006) but not with PCa death (p = 0.171). CONCLUSION TERT polymorphisms were associated with prostate tumorigenesis and severity, and the genetic architectures of PCa susceptibility loci were heterogeneous among distinct ancestries.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yongle Zhan
- Division of Urology, Department of Surgery, LKS Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Xiaohao Ruan
- Department of Urology, Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200025, China
| | - Jiacheng Liu
- Department of Urology, Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200025, China
| | - Da Huang
- Department of Urology, Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200025, China
| | - Jingyi Huang
- Department of Urology, Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200025, China
| | - Jinlun Huang
- Department of Urology, Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200025, China
| | - Tsun Tsun Stacia Chun
- Division of Urology, Department of Surgery, LKS Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Ada Tsui-Lin Ng
- Division of Urology, Department of Surgery, LKS Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
- Division of Urology, Department of Surgery, Queen Mary Hospital, Hong Kong, China
| | - Yishuo Wu
- Department of Urology, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai 200040, China
| | - Gonghong Wei
- Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center & MOE Key Laboratory of Metabolism and Molecular Medicine and Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology of School of Basic Medical Sciences, Shanghai Medical College of Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China
| | - Haowen Jiang
- Department of Urology, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai 200040, China
| | - Danfeng Xu
- Department of Urology, Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200025, China
| | - Rong Na
- Division of Urology, Department of Surgery, LKS Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
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