BACKGROUND Telomeres are essential for the function and stability of eukaryotic chromosomes. Telomerase consists of three subunits: human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT), human telomerase RNA (hTR), and telomerase protein 1 (TP1). The hTERT subunit determines the activity of telomerase as an enzyme and is detected in most human tumors and regenerative cells. Telomerase activity is a us...

Papillomavirus-like particles (VLPs) are a promising prophylactic vaccine candidate to prevent human papillomavirus (HPV) infections and associated epithelial neoplasia. However, they are unlikely to have therapeutic effects because the virion capsid proteins are not detected in the proliferating cells of the infected epithelia or in cervical carcinomas. To increase the number of viral antigen ...

The fragile histidine triad (FHIT) gene, located at 3p14.2, has been shown to be altered in numerous epithelial cancers. Because previous studies have shown a loss of heterozygosity and cytogenetic abnormalities at the 3p region in ovarian, endometrial, and cervical carcinomas, we examined the status of the FHIT gene in 14 ovarian, 8 cervical, and 4 endometrial human cancer cell lines. RNA was ...

Cervical cancer, the second most common type of cancer in women worldwide, is responsible for >275,100 mortalities each year and is associated with high-risk human papilloma virus (HR-HPV). HPVs have two important oncogenes, E6 and E7, which have crucial roles in malignant transformation in cervical cancer. Metastasis-associated lung adenocarcinoma transcript 1 (MALAT1) is a long non-coding RNA...

Over 90% of prostate cancers express telomerase activity. In an experimental model, hsp90 and p23, which are necessary for telomerase assembly and function, dramatically increase during tumorigenic conversion. We immunohistochemically analyzed 60 prostate carcinomas, 50 prostatic intraepithelial neoplasias (PIN) and 25 benign prostatic tissues to determine whether hsp90/p23 expression correlate...

Background: This research was accomplished to evaluate the IHC expression of p16 (ink4a) and CK17 in low grade cervical intraepithelial lesions (LSIL), high grade cervical intraepithelial lesions (HSIL) and invasive cervical carcinomas and to assess their correlation to HPV (16E6+18E6). Methods: The study...

The TERT-CLPTM1L region of chromosome 5p15.33 is a multi-cancer susceptibility locus that encodes the reverse transcriptase subunit, hTERT, of the telomerase enzyme. Numerous cancer-associated single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), including rs10069690, have been identified within the hTERT gene. The minor allele (A) at rs10069690 creates an additional splice donor site in intron 4 of hTERT, a...

Oral cancer is one of the commonest causes for mortality and morbidity with squamous cell carcinoma being the sixth most frequent malignant tumour worldwide. In addition to tobacco and alcohol, human papilloma virus (HPV) is associated with a proportion of head and neck cancers. As in cervical cancers, HPV types 16 and 18 are the cause of malignant transformation. HPV-positive cancers of head a...

PURPOSE Cell lines derived from non-small cell lung cancers (NSCLCs) revealed frequent high-level gains of chromosomal DNA at 3q23-q29 when examined by comparative genomic hybridization (CGH). Within this amplicon, a minimal common region of amplification in lung tumors had been mapped to 3q26 by earlier studies. The aim of the present work was to identify specific targets of the 3q26 amplifica...

Telomere maintenance is critical in tumor cell immortalization. Here, we report that the cytokine bone morphogenetic protein-7 (BMP7) inhibits telomerase activity that is required for telomere maintenance in cervical cancer cells. Application of human recombinant BMP7 triggers a repression of the human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) gene, shortening of telomeres, and hTERT repression-...