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PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:issue
1-2
pubmed:dateCreated
2008-1-21
pubmed:abstractText
Activation of telomerase by the induction of a full-length telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) transcript is a critical step during cellular immortalization and malignant transformation. Telomerase activity or hTERT expression has thus served as diagnostic and/or prognostic markers in different types of human malignancies. In the present study, we investigated the expression of the telomerase components hTERT and telomerase RNA template (hTER) in normal and malignant gastric tissues derived from 37 patients with gastric cancers. Overall hTERT mRNA was detectable in 33/37 (90%) of tumour specimens and 23/37 (62%) of the corresponding normal gastric tissues. Twenty-five of thirty-seven tumours (71%) expressed the full-length hTERT mRNA, and unexpectedly, this full-length transcript was found in 16 of 37 (43%) normal gastric tissues. Immunohistochemical analyses demonstrated a positive hTERT staining in small fractions of normal epithelial cells and in most gastric cancer cells. A close correlation between the presence of a full-length hTERT transcript and the c-MYC oncogene expression was observed in both normal and cancerous gastric specimens. Moreover, the full-length hTERT expression was positively associated with the tumour size in these patients. Similar levels of hTER expression were expressed in tumour and their corresponding normal tissues. The finding that the full-length hTERT transcript was present in both normal and malignant gastric tissues will preclude its use as a gastric cancer marker. Nevertheless, full-length hTERT mRNA expression may indicate a progressive gastric cancer, and its presence in normal gastric mucosa may have an impact on the anti-telomerase strategy for cancer therapeutic purpose.
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:citationSubset
IM
pubmed:chemical
pubmed:status
MEDLINE
pubmed:month
Feb
pubmed:issn
0304-3835
pubmed:author
pubmed:issnType
Print
pubmed:day
18
pubmed:volume
260
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
28-36
pubmed:meshHeading
pubmed:year
2008
pubmed:articleTitle
Expression of the full-length telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) transcript in both malignant and normal gastric tissues.
pubmed:affiliation
Department of Microbiology, School of Medicine, Shandong University, Jinan 250012, PR China. Wenjuan.Li@ki.se
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't