UNLABELLED Our goal was to noninvasively measure chemotherapy-induced changes in the expression of critical tumor growth genes. To achieve this goal, we used radionuclide and optical methods to measure changes in human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) gene expression in tumor cells before and after 5-fluorouracil treatment. METHODS A fusion reporter construct, containing humanized Ren...

To obtain the large amount of T cells required for adoptive immunotherapy in a clinical setting, T-cell lifespan extension by human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) transduction is of particular interest. However, constitutive expression of hTERT is associated with malignant transformation and thus warrants a detailed evaluation of the safety of hTERT-transduced T cells before clinical ...

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 We have reported previously that the telomerase catalytic subunit, human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT), is a widely expressed tumor-associated antigen recognized by CTLs. A nine-amino acid peptide derived from hTERT binds strongly to HLA-A2 antigen and elicits CTL responses against a broad panel of hTERT+ tumors (but not hTERT+ hematopoietic progenitor cells). The applicabili...

Human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) is the catalytic subunit of the human telomerase complex. Growing evidence suggests that hTERT also contributes to the cell physiology independently of telomere elongation. However, its role in bacterial infection is unknown. Here we show that hTERT is critical for Listeria monocytogenes infection, as the depletion of hTERT impaired bacterial intra...

Telomerase is a reverse transcriptase that maintains chromosome ends, compensating for the progressive loss of DNA that occurs during replication. High telomerase enzyme activity is an unfavorable prognostic feature for several types of cancers. We investigated whether telomerase level predicts outcome for patients with the pediatric renal malignancy Wilms’ tumor. In a case-cohort study of 78 p...

The human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) gene is upregulated in a majority of malignant tumours. A variable tandem repeat, MNS16A, has been reported to be of functional significance for hTERT expression. Published data on the clinical relevance of MNS16A variants in brain tumours have been contradictory. The present population-based study in the Nordic countries and the United Kingdom...

Telomerase activity and expression of the catalytic protein hTERT are associated with cell proliferation and advanced stage in endometrial cancer. Our objective was to evaluate the effect of inhibition of hTERT by siRNA and BIBR1532 on cell growth, apoptosis and invasion in endometrial cancer cells. Knockdown of hTERT or treatment of the cells with BIBR1532 decreased telomerase activity, inhibi...

HPV 16 E6 upregulates hTERT expression in lung cancer cells. However, the underlying molecular mechanism is unclear. In this paper, E6, LKB1, SP1, and hTERT mRNA expression levels were detected in brushing cells of patients with lung cancer (n = 106) and with benign lung disease (n = 68) by qRT-PCR. The mRNA expression levels of E6, SP1, and hTERT were significantly increased in the malignant g...

Transcriptional activation of human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) is critical for telomerase expression, a major step for cellular immortality and carcinogenesis. Although several transcriptional activators have been identified, factors responsible for repressing the hTERT promoter are largely unknown. Gene screening that employed enhanced retroviral mutagenesis has identified potent...