Telomerase-related advances in hepatocellular carcinoma:A bibliometric and visual analysis

BACKGROUND As a critical early event in hepatocellular carcinogenesis,telomerase activation might be a promising and critical biomarker for hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC)patients,and its function in the genesis and treatment of HCC has gained much attention over the past two decades.AIM To perform a bibliometric analysis to systematically assess the current state of research on HCC-related telomerase.METHODS The Web of Science Core Collection and PubMed were systematically searched to retrieve publications pertaining to HCC/telomerase limited to“articles”and“reviews”published in English.A total of 873 relevant publications related to HCC and telomerase were identified.We employed the Bibliometrix package in R to extract and analyze the fundamental information of the publications,such as the trends in the publications,citation counts,most prolific or influential writers,and most popular journals;to screen for keywords occurring at high frequency;and to draw collaboration and cluster analysis charts on the basis of coauthorship and co-occurrences.VOSviewer was utilized to compile and visualize the bibliometric data.RESULTS A surge of 51 publications on HCC/telomerase research occurred in 2016,the most productive year from 1996 to 2023,accompanied by the peak citation count recorded in 2016.Up to December 2023,35226 citations were made to all publications,an average of 46.6 citations to each paper.The United States received the most citations(n=13531),followed by China(n=7427)and Japan(n=5754).In terms of national cooperation,China presented the highest centrality,its strongest bonds being to the United States and Japan.Among the 20 academic institutions with the most publications,ten came from China and the rest of Asia,though the University of Paris Cité,Public Assistance-Hospitals of Paris,and the National Institute of Health and Medical Research(INSERM)were the most prolific.As for individual contributions,Hisatomi H,Kaneko S,and Ide T were the three most prolific authors.Kaneko S ranked first by H-index,G-index,and overall publication count,while Zucman-Rossi J ranked first in citation count.The five most popular journals were the World Journal of Gastroenterology,Hepatology,Journal of Hepatology,Oncotarget,and Oncogene,while Nature Genetics,Hepatology,and Nature Reviews Disease Primers had the most citations.We extracted 2293 keywords from the publications,120 of which appeared more than ten times.The most frequent were HCC,telomerase and human telomerase reverse transcriptase(hTERT).Keywords such as mutational landscape,TERT promoter mutations,landscape,risk,and prognosis were among the most common issues in this field in the last three years and may be topics for research in the coming years.CONCLUSION Our bibliometric analysis provides a comprehensive overview of HCC/telomerase research and insights into promising upcoming research.

Detection of Telomerase Activity and the Expression of Telomerase Subunits in the Patients with Acute Myelogenous Leukaemia

Telomerase activity and the expression of telomerase subunits (for example, telomerase reverse transcriptase and telomerase associated protein 1 and telomerase RNA component) of peripheral white blood cells were detected in the patients with acute myelogenous leukaemia (AML) and the correlation between telomerase activity and the expression of telomerase subunits was observed. In 94 peripheral white blood cells from 18 healthy volunteers and 76 patients with AML, including 31 AML at initial presentation, 24 at relapse and 21 at complete remission, the telomerase activity and telomerase subunits mRNA or RNA were detected by PCR ELISA and RT PCR respectively. The results showed that the positive rate of telomerase from patients with AML at initial presentation, at relapse and at complete remission was 74.1 %, 79.2 % and 4.8 % respectively. The positive rate of telomerase reverse transcriptase mRNA from healthy volunteers, AML at initial presentation, AML at relapse and AML at complete remission was 5.6 %, 80.6 %, 83.3 % and 9.5 % respectively. The positive rate of telomerase associated protein 1 mRNA and telomerase RNA component in all samples were 100 %. It was suggested that the up regulation of telomerase activity and the expression of telomerase reverse transcriptase is correlated closely with the occurrence and relapse of AML, so telomerase activity and the expression of telomerase reverse transcriptase may be used to estimate the curative effect and predict relapse of AML. Moreover, the up regulation of telomerase activity is correlated with the expression of telomerase reverse transcriptase significantly.

Expression of Telomerase Subunits in Gastric Cancer

To detect the expression of telomerase subunits （human telomerase reverse transcriptase, human telomerase associated protein 1 and human telomerase RNA） in gastric cancer and to examine the role that different telomerase subunits play in the gastric carcinogenesis, reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction （RT-PCR） was used to detect telomerase suhunits messenger RNA in 24 samples of gastric cancer and corresponding non-cancerous tissue. The results showed that the positive rate of hTERT mRNA from gastric cancer and corresponding non-cancerous tissues was 100% and 25 %, respectively. The former was significantly higher than the latter （X^2 = 26.4, P〈0.01）. The positive rate of hTEP1 mRNA from gastric cancer and corresponding non-cancerous tissues was 100 % and 91.7%, respectively and no significant difference was found between them （X^2 =2.1, P〉0.05）. The positive rates of hTR for gastric cancer and corresponding non-cancerous tissues were both 100 % and no significant difference existed between them. It is concluded that in contrast to hTEP1 and hTR, the up-regulation of hTERT mRNA expression may play a more important role in the development of gastric cancer.

Inhibitory Effects of Selenium on Telomerase Activity and hTERT Expression in Cadmium-transformed 16HBE Cells

To investigate the effects of sodium selenite on telomerase activity and expression of hTERT mRNA in cadmium-transformed 16HBE cells. Methods Telomerase activity and expression of genes were measured after cultured cadmium-transformed 16HBE cells were exposed to sodium selenite at different doses （0.625, 1.25, 2.50, 5.00 pmol/L） for 24 hours. Results Selenium decreased telomerase activity in cadmium-transformed 16HBE cells. There existed an obvious dose-effect relationship between the selenium concentration and these changes. The expression of hTERT and c-myc mRNA also decreased but the expression of madl mRNA increased after exposure to selenium for 24 hours. No difference was found in expression of hTRF1 and hTRF2 mRNA after incubated with sodium selenite for 24 hours, compared with control group. Conclusion Selenium inhibits telomerase activity by decreasing hTERT and c-myc mRNA expression and increasing madl mRNA expression in cadmium-transformed 16HBE cells and selenium concentration is significantly correlated with these changes.

Telomere,telomerase and digestive cancer

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Effects of Cadmium on Telomerase Activity,Expressions of TERT,C-myc and P53,and Apoptosis of Rat Hepatocytes

This study investigated the effect of cadmium on the telomerase activity,the expression of TERT,c-myc and p53 and the apoptosis of rat hepatocytes.The rats were administrated 5,10 and 20 μmol/kg cadmium chloride intraperitoneally and sacrificed 48 h after the initial treatment.The telomerase activity of the rat hepatocytes was measured by the telomeric repeat amplification protocol (TRAP),and apoptosis was detected by flow cytometry.The mRNA expressions of TERT,c-myc and p53 were measured by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR).C-myc and P53 proteins were determined by immunochemistry.The results showed that cadmium chloride increased the hepatocellular telomerase activity in a dose-dependant manner and induced the apoptosis of hepatocytes significantly.The value of relative coefficient between the telomerase activity and the apoptosis rate was 0.9398.RT-PCR revealed that specific bands corresponding to the TERT mRNA,c-myc mRNA,and p53 mRNA were displayed at 185,342 and 538 bp respectively.Cadmium chloride could substantially increase the mRNA expressions of TERT,c-myc and p53 in rat hepatocytes,as compared with control.Moreover,cadmium chloride at the doses of 5,10 and 20 μmol/kg could increase the content of P53 protein in rat hepatocytes obviously,but only that at the doses of 10 and 20 μmol/kg substantially promoted the c-myc protein level in rat hepatocytes.Our study herein suggested that cadmium may contribute to the carcinogenesis by activating telomerase,and overexpressing the mRNAs of TERT,c-myc and p53,and causing apoptosis of normal cells.

Inhibition of telomerase with human telomerase reverse transcriptase antisense increases the sensitivity of tumor necrosis factor-α-induced apoptosis in prostate cancer cells

Aim： To investigate the effect of inhibition of telomerase with human telomerase reverse transcriptase （hTERT） antisense on tumor necrosis factor-α （TNF-α-induced apoptosis in prostate cancer cells （PC3）. Methods： Antisense phosphorothioate oligodeoxynucleotide （AS PS-ODN） was synthesized and purified. Telomerase activity was measured using the telomeric repeat amplification protocol （TRAP） and polymerase chain reaction enzyme-linked immunoassay （PCR-ELISA）. hTERT mRNA was measured by reverse transcription PCR （RT-PCR） assay and gel-image system, hTERT protein was detected by immunochemistry and flow cytometry. Cell viability was detected by 3-（4, 5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl）-2,5-Diphenyltetrazolium （MTT） assay. Cell apoptosis was observed by morphological method and determined by flow cytometry. Results： The telomerase activity decreased with time after hTERT AS PS-ODN treatment. The levels of hTERT mRNA decreased with time after hTERT AS PS-ODN treatment, which appeared before the decline of the telomerase activity. The percentage of positive cells of hTERT protein declined with time after hTERT AS PS-ODN treatment, which appeared after the decline of hTERT mRNA. There was no difference in telomerase activity, hTERT mRNA and protein levels between hTERT sense phosphorothioate oligodeoxynucleotide （S PS-ODN） and the control group. The cell viability decreased with time after hTERT AS PS-ODN combined with TNF-α treatment. The percentage of apoptosis increased with time after hTERT AS PS-ODN combined with TNF-α treatment. There was no difference in cell viability and the percentage of apoptosis between hTERT S PS-ODN and the control group. Conclusion： hTERT AS PS-ODN can significantly inhibit telomerase activity by downregulating the hTERT mRNA and protein expression, and inhibition of telomerase with hTERT antisense can enhance TNF-α- induced apoptosis of PC3 cells.

Quantification of human telomerase RNA (hTR) and human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) mRNA in testicular tissue of infertile patients

Aim: To evaluate the quantitative detection of human telomerase RNA (hTR) and human telomerase reverse tran-scriptase (hTERT) mRNA as diagnostic parameters in the workup of testicular tissue specimens from patients presentingwith non-obstructive azoospermia. Methods: hTR and hTERT mRNA expression were quantified in 38 cryopre-served testicular tissue specimens by fluorescence real-time reverse transcription - polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR)in a LightCycler(r). This was paralleled by conventional histological workup in all tissue specimens and additionalsemithin sectioning preparation in cases with maturation arrest (n = 12) and Sertoli-cell-only syndrome (n = 12). Re-sults; The average normalized hTERT expression (N_(hTERT)) was 131.9±48.0 copies (mean ± SD) in tissue speci-mens with full spermatogenesis, N_(hTERT) = 51.2 ±17.2 copies in those with maturation arrest and N_(hTERT) = 2.7 ± 2.4copies in those with Sertoli-cell-only syndrome (SCOS). The discriminant analysis showed that detection of N_(hTERT)(N_(hTR)) had a predictive value of 86.8% (55.3%) for correct classification in one of the three histological subgroups.Conclusion; Our results demonstrate that quantitative detection of hTERT mRNA expression in testicular tissue en-ables a molecular-diagnostic classification of gametogenesis. Quantitative detection of hTERT in testicular biopsies isthus well suited for supplementing the histopathological evaluation. (Asian J Androl 2001 Dec; 3: 263 - 270)

Telomerase Activity and Telomerase Reverse Transcriptase Expression Induced by Selenium in Rat Hepatocytes

Objective To investigate the effects of sodium selenite on telomerase activity, apoptosis and expression of TERT, c-myc and p53 in rat hepatocytes. Methods Selenium at doses of 2.5, 5.0, and 10 μmol/kg was given to SD rats by garage. In rat hepatocytes, telomerase activity was measured by the telomeric repeat amplification protocol （TRAP）, apoptosis was detected by flow cytometry, and expressions of telomerase reverse transcriptase （TERT）, c-myc and p53 were analyzed by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction （RT-PCR）. c-Myc and P53 proteins were detected by immunochemistry. Results Selenium at doses of 2.5, 5.0, and 10 μmol/kg significantly increased hepatocellular telomerase activity and induced apoptosis in a dose-dependent manner. Although selenium at doses of 2.5, 5.0, and 10 μmol/kg displayed no obvious enhancing effect on the TERT mRNA expression in rat hepatocytes （P〉0.05）, it significantly increased the c-myc mRNA and p53 mRNA expression at the dose of 10 μmol/kg （P〈0.05）. Selenium at doses of 5.0 and 10 μmol/kg obviously increased the content of P53 protein in rat hepatocytes, but only at the dose of 10 μmol/kg, it significantly promoted the value of c-Myc protein in them. Conclusion Selenium can slightly increase telomerase activity and TERT expression, and significantly induce apoptosis and over-expression of c-myc and p53 at relatively high doses. The beneficial effects of selenium on senescence and aging may be mediated by telomerase activation and expression of TERT, c-myc, and p53 in rat hepatocytes.

Anti-HIV-1 Activities of 4 Telomerase Restrictors

MTT Cell Proliferation Assay was used to optimize the concentration of Telomerase Restrictors（TRs） with minimum toxicity to the selected cells. FACSort flow cytometer and Innotest P24 HIV（Human immtmodeficiency Virus） antigen mAb ELISA Kit were used to investigate the anti-HIV-1 activities of TRs. The results showed that TRs had low cytotoxicity to the PBMC （Peripheral Blood mononuclear cells） and CEM/GFP if the concentration of TRs was at 50μmol/L or below, and the supernatant from PBMC pretreated with SHIV and TR1-001 /TR1-002 could not infect the PBMC, while can infect the C8166 with reduced infectivity, which suggested that the TRs may be one of the novel resources for screening anti-HIV-1 agents.

Inhibition of Cell Growth and Telomerase Activity in Osteosarcoma Cells by DN-hTERT

In order to study the effects of dominant negative human telomerase reverse transcriptase （DN-hTERT） on cell growth and telomerase activity in osteosarcoma cell line MG63, MG63 cells were transfected with DN-hTERT-IRES2-EGFP9 （DN） or IRES2-EGF （I, blank vector） with lipofectamine 2000. The stably transfected cells were selected with G-418. Cell growth properties were examined under a fluorescence microscope. The hTERT mRNA expression was detected by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction （RT-PCR）. Telomerase activities were measured by TRAP-ELISE. The tumorigenicity was studied with tumor xenografts by subcutaneous injection of cancer cells into nude mice. The results showed that cell growth was suppressed in MG63 cells transfected with DN-hTERT. The hTERT mRNA was increased in N-hTERT transfected-MG63 cells （MG63/DN）. The telomerase activity was 2.45±0.11 in MG63/DN cells, while 3.40±0.12 in the cells transfected with blank vector （MG63/I）, （P〈0.05）; DN-hTERT-expressing clones did not form tumors in 2 weeks, but the ratio of tumorigenesis was 30 % in nude mice bearing MG63/I （P〈0.01）. It was concluded that DN-hTERT could specifically inhibit the cell growth and telomerase activity in MG63 cells.

Telomerase activity in gastric cancer and its clinical implications

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Effect of VEGF,P53 and telomerase on angiogenesis of gastric carcinoma tissue

Objective:To investigate the effect of vascular endothelial growth factor(VEGF),P53 and telomerase on angiogenesis in gastric carcinoma tissue.Methods:A total of 95 surgical resection samples of gastric cancer tissue after pathological diagnosis are collected to observe the VEGF,P53 and telomerase expression using immunohistochemical methods.Relationship between their expression and its influence on angiogenesis in gastric carcinoma tissue were analyzed.Results:Microvascular density(MVD)and the expression of VEGF,P53 and telomerase were positively correlated.Expression of VEGF and P53 protein were related to tumor type and lymph metastasis,and also a correlation was observed between P53 and VEGF.The telomerase expression had no correlation with VEGF,and P53.Conclusions:VEGF angiogenesis has a angiogenesis promoting effect on gastric cancer tissue development and plays an important role in tumor generation and metastasis.Mutant P53 promotes the tumor angiogenesis generation by adjusting VEGF.Telomerase has a certain role in promoting activity of angiogenesis through different way rather than P53.

Testicular expression of survivin and human telomerase reverse transcriptase(hTERT)associated with spermatogenic function in infertile patients

Aim： To characterize the coexpression of survivin, an inhibitor of apoptosis （IAF）, and human telomerase reverse transcriptase （hTERT） in human testes with varying spermatogenic function. Methods： Transcript levels of survivin mRNA and hTERT mRNA were determined in normal testes （n = 11） and testes with defective spermatogenesis （n = 28） using real-time reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction （RT-PCR）. The histological work-up was performed according to a modified Johnsen score. Results： Expressions of both survivin and hTERT were highest at median levels of 96.8 and 709 in normal spermatogenesis and dropped to 53.3 and 534 in testes with postmeiotic spermatogenic arrest （n = 10）. In severe spermatogenic failure （n = 18）, survivin expression was lacking in most specimens （n = 16）, whereas at least low levels of testicular hTERT expression were largely detectable with a normalized expression of 73 in premeiotic spermatogenic arrest （n = 7） and 45 in patients with Sertoli cell-only syndrome （SCOS） （n = 3）. Both survivin and hTERT expressions increased with a progressing Johnsen score （P for trend = 0.001）. Conclusion： Although both survivin and hTERT are correlated with spermatogenic function, they show different expression patterns in testes of infertile patients. These findings substantiate results from studies in the rodent testis suggesting a predominant expression of survivin in meiotically dividing germ cells. （Asian J Andro12006 Jan; 8： 95-100）

Telomerase and hTERT: Can they serve as markers for gastric cancer diagnosis?

AIM:To investigate telomerase activity and human telomerase reverse transcriptase(hTERT)expression in normal human gastric mucosal epithelial cells(nhGMECs)and fibroblasts(nhGMFs).METHODS:nhGMECs and nhGMFs were isolated and cultured from specimens obtained during routine surgery for bleeding peptic ulcer.Telomerase activity in nhGMFs,nhGMECs,and the tumor cell lines BGC-823,SGC-7901 and MKN-28 cells was analyzed using the telomeric repeat amplification protocol assay.hTERT protein was determined in nhGMECs,nhGMFs,BGC-823,SGC-7901 and MKN-28 cells by indirect immunofluorescence.served in nhGMECs,nhGMFs and BGC-823,SGC-7901,MKN-28 cell lines.Positive hTERT immunostaining was detected in nhGMECs,nhGMFs,BGC-823,SGC-7901and MKN-28 cell lines.CONCLUSION:The use of telomerase or hTERT as diagnostic markers for gastric cancer may require further studies.

Common telomerase reverse transcriptase promoter mutations in hepatocellular carcinomas from different geographical locations

AIM: To determine the mutation status of human telomerase reverse transcriptase gene(TERT) promoter region in hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC) from different geographical regions.METHODS: We analyzed the genomic DNA sequences of 59 HCC samples comprising 15 cell lines and 44 primary tumors,collected from patients living in Asia,Europe and Africa.We amplified a 474 bp DNA fragment of the promoter region of TERT gene including the 1295228 and 1295250 sequence of chromosome 5 by using PCR.Amplicons were then sequenced by Sanger technique and the sequence data were analyzed with by using DNADynamo software in comparison with wild type TERT gene sequence as a reference.RESULTS: The TERT mutations were found highly frequent in HCC.Eight of the fifteen tested cell lines displayed C228 T mutation,and one had C250 T mutation with a mutation frequency up to 60%.All of the mutations were heterozygous and mutually exclusive.Ten out of forty-four tumors displayed C228 T mutation,and additional five tumors had C250 T mutation providing evidence for mutation frequency of 34% in primary tumors.Considering the geographic origins of HCC tumors tested,TERT promoter mutation frequencies were higher in African(53%),when compared to non-African(24%) tumors(P = 0.056).There was also a weak inverse correlation between TERT promoter mutations and murine double minute 2 single nucleotide polymorphism 309 TG polymorphism(P = 0.058).Mutation frequency was nearly two times higher in established HCC celllines(60%) compared to the primary tumors(34%).CONCLUSION: TERT promoter is one of most frequent mutational targets in liver cancer,and hepatocellular carcinogenesis is highly associated with the loss of telomere-dependent cellular senescence control.

Telomeres,telomerase and colorectal cancer

Colorectal cancer(CRC)is the third most common cancer worldwide and,despite improved treatments,is still an important cause of cancer-related deaths.CRC encompasses a complex of diseases arising from a multistep process of genetic and epigenetic events.Besides heterogeneity in the molecular and biological features of CRC,chromosomal instability is a hallmark of cancer and cancer cells may also circumvent replicative senescence and acquire the ability to sustain unlimited proliferation.Telomere/telomerase interplay is an important mechanism involved in both genomic stability and cellular replicative potential,and its dysfunction plays a key role in the oncogenetic process.The erosion of telomeres,mainly because of cell proliferation,may be accelerated by specific alterations in the genes involved in CRC,such as APC and MSH2.Although there is general agreement that the shortening of telomeres plays a role in the early steps of CRC carcinogenesis by promoting chromosomal instability,the prognostic role of telomere length in CRC is still under debate.The activation of telomerase reverse transcriptase(TERT),the catalytic component of the telomerase complex,allows cancer cells to grow indefinitely by maintaining the length of the telomeres,thus favouring tumour formation/progression.Several studies indicate that TERT increases with disease progression,and most studies suggest that telomerase is a useful prognostic factor.Plasma TERT mRNA may also be a promising marker for the minimally invasive monitoring of disease progression and response to therapy.

Transplantation of human telomerase reverse transcriptase gene-transfected Schwann cells for repairing spinal cord injury

Transfection of the human telomerase reverse transcriptase（h TERT）gene has been shown to increase cell proliferation and enhance tissue repair.In the present study,h TERT was transfected into rat Schwann cells.A rat model of acute spinal cord injury was established by the modified free-falling method.Retrovirus PLXSN was injected at the site of spinal cord injury as a vector to mediate h TERT gene-transfected Schwann cells（1×10^（10）/L;10μL）or Schwann cells（1×10^（10）/L;10μL）without h TERT gene transfection.Between 1 and 4 weeks after model establishment,motor function of the lower limb improved in the h TERT-transfected group compared with the group with non-transfected Schwann cells.Terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated d UTP nick-end labeling and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction results revealed that the number of apoptotic cells,and gene expression of aquaporin 4/9 and matrix metalloproteinase 9/2decreased at the site of injury in both groups;however,the effect improved in the h TERT-transfected group compared with the Schwann cells without h TERT transfection group.Hematoxylin and eosin staining,PKH26 fluorescent labeling,and electrophysiological testing demonstrated that compared with the non-transfected group,spinal cord cavity and motor and sensory evoked potential latencies were reduced,while the number of PKH26-positive cells and the motor and sensory evoked potential amplitude increased at the site of injury in the h TERT-transfected group.These findings suggest that transplantation of h TERT gene-transfected Schwann cells repairs the structure and function of the injured spinal cord.

Neuroprotective effects of human telomerase reverse transcriptase on beta-amyloid fragment 25-35-treated human embryonic cortical neurons

BACKGROUND： Numerous current studies have suggested that human telomerase reverse transcriptase （hTERT） gene has neuroprotective effects and can inhibit apoptosis induced by various cytotoxic stresses; however, the mechanism of action remains unknown. OBJECTIVE： To evaluate the neuroprotective effects and possible mechanism of action of hTERT gene transfection in human embryonic cortical neurons treated with beta-amyloid fragment 25-35 （AI325-35）. DESIGN, TIME AND SETTING： The randomized, controlled and molecular biological studies were performed at the Department of Anatomy and Brain Research, Zhongshan School of Medicine, Sun Yat-sen University, China, from September 2005 to June 2008. MATERIALS： AdEasy-1 Expression System was gifted by Professor Guoquan Gao from Sun Yat-Sen University, China. Human cortical neurons were derived from 12-20 week old aborted fetuses, obtained from the Guangzhou Maternal and Child Health Hospital, China. Mouse anti-Odk5 and mouse anti-p16 monoclonal antibodies （Lab Vision, USA）, and mouse anti-hTERT monoclonal antibody （Epitomics, USA）, were used in this study. METHODS： （1） Recombinant adenovirus vectors, encoding hTERT （Ad-hTERT） and green fluorescent protein （Ad-GFP）, were constructed using the AdEasy-1 Expression System. Human embryonic cortical neurons in the Ad-hTERT group were transfected with Ad-hTERT for 1-21 days. Likewise, human embryonic cortical neurons in the Ad-GFP group were transfected with Ad-GFP for 1-21 days. Human embryonic cortical neurons in the control group were cultured as normal. （2） Human embryonic cortical neurons in the Ad-hTERT group were treated with 10 pmol/L Aβ25-35 for 24 hours. Normal human embryonic cortical neurons treated with 10 pmol/Lβ25.35 for 24 hours served as a model group. Human embryonic cortical neurons in the Ad-GFP and control groups were not treated with Aβ25-35. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES： Expression of hTERT in human embryonic cortical neurons was evaluated by immunocytochemical staining and Western blot assay. Telomerase activity was measured using a PCR-based telomeric repeat amplification protocol （TRAP） ELISA kit. Neural activity in human embryonic cortical neurons was examined by MTT assay; apoptosis was measured using TUNEL assay; and Cdk5 and p16 protein expressions were measured by Western blot. RESULTS： Expression of hTERT protein was significantly increased and peaked at day 3 post-transfection in the Ad-hTERT group. No hTERT expression was detected in the Ad-GFP and control groups. Telomerase activity was significantly greater in the Ad-hTERT group compared with the Ad-GFP and control groups （P 〈 0.01）. Compared with the control group, cell activity was significantly decreased （P 〈 0.05）, and cell apoptotic rate, Cdk5 and p16 expression were significantly increased （P 〈 0.01） in the model group. Compared with the model group, cell activity was increased in the Ad-hTERT group, and peaked at day 3 post-transfection （P 〈 0.05）. Neuroprotective effects also peaked at day 3 post-transfection; and the apoptotic rate, Cdk5 and p16 expression significantly decreased （P 〈 0.01）. CONCLUSION： Expression of hTERT in human embryonic cortical neurons can relieve Aβ25-35-induced neuronal apoptosis. The possible mechanism by which hTERT produces these neuroprotective effects may be associated with inhibition of Cdk5 and p16 expression.