Telomerase activity has a close relationship with malignancies in many cell types and it is tightly regulated at the transcriptional level of human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT). Utilizing the hTERT promoter, the authors developed a gene delivery system of Fas associated protein with death domain (FADD) (hTERT/FADD). FADD is a protein which plays an important role in the apoptotic pa...

Activation of the telomere maintenance mechanism is a key hallmark of cancer. Human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) is the catalytic subunit of telomerase, which is highly expressed in more than 80% of tumors, including hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, the exact mechanisms by which hTERT is up-regulated in HCCs and promotes tumor growth and progression is not fully understood. ...

BACKGROUND One of the major components of telomerase is the human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) as the catalytic protein. hTERT mRNA expression are reported to be associated with prognosis and tumor progression in several sarcomas. However, there is no clear understanding of the mechanisms of hTERT in human sarcomas. Recent studies have suggested that signals transmitted through p38 ...

Because the apoptotic pathway is often disrupted in tumor cells, its genetic restoration is a very attractive approach for the treatment of tumors. To treat malignant gliomas with this approach, it would be preferred to restrict induction of apoptosis to tumor cells by establishing a tumor-specific expression system. Telomerase is an attractive target because the vast majority of malignant glio...

The human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) is the catalytic subunit of the telomerase holoenzyme. Evidence is accumulating to link hTERT to activities other than telomere maintenance and immortalization. Here, we show that hTERT overexpression not only reduces the basal cellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels but also inhibits endogenous ROS production in response to stimuli that ...

PURPOSE High-level expression of the telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) in >85% of human cancers, in contrast with its restricted expression in normal adult tissues, points to hTERT as a broadly applicable molecular target for anticancer immunotherapy. CTLs recognize peptides derived from hTERT and kill hTERT+ tumor cells of multiple histologies in vitro. Moreover, because survival of hTE...

We have previously shown that the protein subunit of telomerase, hTERT, has a bonafide N-terminal mitochondrial targeting sequence, and that ectopic hTERT expression in human cells correlated with increase in mtDNA damage after hydrogen peroxide treatment. In this study, we show, using a loxP hTERT construct, that this increase in mtDNA damage following hydrogen peroxide exposure is dependent o...

Human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT), the catalytic subunit of telomerase, is strongly associated with telomerase activity implicated in cellular immortalization and tumorigenesis. In situ detection of hTERT will aid in determining the localization of telomerase positive cells. The aim of this study was to detect hTERT protein expression in multistep oral carcinogenesis using paraffin...

Because the apoptotic pathway is often disrupted in tumor cells, its genetic restoration is a very attractive approach for the treatment of tumors. To treat malignant gliomas with this approach, it would be preferred to restrict induction of apoptosis to tumor cells by establishing a tumor-specific expression system. Telomerase is an attractive target because the vast majority of malignant glio...

Studies have shown that wild-type hTERT protein can functionally replace the HPV16E6 protein, which cooperates with the viral E7 protein in the immortalization of primary keratinocytes. Previously, we made the surprising finding that catalytically inactive hTERT (hTERT), elongation-defective hTERT (hTERT-HA), and telomere recruitment-defective (hTERT N+T) also cooperate with E7 in cell immortal...