有限延伸法检测端粒酶活性

人端粒酶是一种核蛋白体,通过其内含的RNA模板与端粒末端配对把重复端粒片段添加在端粒3'末端;因此,端粒酶活性与细胞凋亡、衰老、永生化有密切关系,是癌症临床预测诊断的一个生物标签.现有的端粒酶活性检测方法,存在灵敏度低和不易定量等问题.本研究采用错配有限延伸法检测端粒酶活性:在人端粒酶延伸人工合成的游离端粒酶底物时,只加入d ATP和d GTP,端粒酶只能把底物延伸4个脱氧核糖核苷酸AGGG.然后加入d NTP,让端粒酶延伸的产物和一条长的引物配对从而延伸出PCR模板;再加入引物进行热启动PCR.PCR后进行非变性PAGE(polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis),得到希望的唯一1条目标带.同时,用不同的端粒酶浓度梯度进行优化,发现有限延伸法检测端粒酶活性的下限达到250个He La细胞.

hTRT反义基因转染对肝癌细胞端粒酶亚单位及细胞周期的影响

目的 探讨人端粒酶蛋白催化活性亚单位 (Humantelomerasereversetranscriptase ,hTRT)反义基因转染对HepG2 肝癌细胞株端粒酶亚单位及细胞周期的影响。方法 采用流式细胞仪检测hTRT正义基因转染的HepG2 细胞(HepG2 S)以及hTRT反义基因转染的HepG2 细胞 (HepG2 AS)的细胞周期 ,采用RT PCR法检测上述细胞hTRT、端粒酶RNA(hTR)、端粒酶相关蛋白 1(TP1)以及c myc和bcl 2基因的变化 ,同时采用Westernblot检测hTRT蛋白质的变化。结果 HepG2 AS出现G0 G1 期阻滞 ,增殖指数增加 ,凋亡率亦明显增加 ,进一步研究发现 ,HepG2 AS端粒酶亚单位hTRT在蛋白质和mRNA水平均表达减少 ,而TP1、hTR无明显变化 ,bcl 2和c mycmRNA的表达亦明显下调。结论 hTRT反义基因不仅可以下调HepG2 细胞hTRTmRNA和蛋白质的表达 ,而且可以下调c myc、bcl 2mRNA的表达 ,从而一方面降低端粒酶活性 ,另一方面一定程度增加凋亡细胞的比率 。

Effects of cisplatin on telomerase activity and telomere length in BEL-7404 human hepatoma cells

Telomerase activity was inhibited in a dose and time-dependent manner with the treatment of cisplatin for 24, 48, or 72 h in a concentration ranged from 0.8 to 50 1uM in BEL-7404 human hepatoma cells. There were no changes in expression pattern of three telomerase subunits, its catalytic reverse transcriptase subunit (hTERT), its RNA component (hTR) or the associated protein subunit (TP1), after cisplatin treated for 72 h with indicated concentrations. Mean telomere lengths were decreased by the cisplatin treatment. Cell growth inhibition and cell cycle accumulation in G2/M phase were found to be correlated with telomerase inhibition in the present study, but percentages of cell apoptosis did not change markedly during the process.

Silencing Sp1 suppresses telomerase activity and promotes apoptosis of SW480 cells line in colorectal carcinoma

Objective:The aim of the study was to examine the effect of Sp1 on the expression of the human telomerase reverse transcriptase(hTERT) gene in human colorectal carcinoma SW480 cells.Methods:The Sp1 shRNA plasmid was transfected into colorectal carcinoma SW480 cells line by liposome mediation for transient expression.After Sp1 shRNA plasmid transfected SW480 cells,the exogenous Sp1 protein expression was determined by the method of Western blot.At same time,hTERT mRNA expression was detected by RT-PCR,telomerase activity was determined by the telomeric repeat amplification protocol(TRAP) assay,and the apoptotic rate of cells was also tested by flow cytometry.Results:The protein expressions of Sp1 gene could be reduce by transfecting of pGenesil-1-Sp1(+) recombinant plasmid into SW480 cells.The apoptotic rate was increased compared with pGenesil-1-Sp1(-)/SW480 and SW480(P < 0.05),which indicated that lowexpression of Sp1 gene could lead to low level of telomerase activity and induce apoptosis.Conclusion:Silencing Sp1 may suppress the activity of telomerase by inhabiting hTERT gene expression.

The MNS16A polymorphism in the TERT gene in peri-centenarians from the Han Chinese population

MNS16A, a variable number of tandem repeats polymorphism in the TERT gene, has been suggested to regulate telomerase activity. As telomerase activity has been reported to be related to life-span, we hypothesized that this polymorphism might affect human longevity by controlling the length of the telomere. To test this hypothesis, we collected 446 unrelated pericentenarian individuals （age）90, mean 94.45±3.45 years） and 332 normal controls （age 22-53, mean 35.0±12.0 years） from Dujiangyan, Sichuan, China. We typed the MNS16A polymorphism in both groups, and compared the allele and genotype frequencies between the peri-centenarian and control groups using the chi-squared test. There was no significant difference between the peri-centenarian and control groups. Thus, the MNS16A polymorphism in TERT might not influence human life-span, at least in the Hart Chinese population studied here.