Oshita T, Nagai N, Ohama K
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Hiroshima University School of Medicine, Hiroshima, Japan.
Int J Oncol. 2000 Dec;17(6):1225-30. doi: 10.3892/ijo.17.6.1225.
Three major components of telomerase, i.e., human telomerase RNA (hTERC), telomerase-associated protein (TEP1), and the human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT), have been identified. Among them, TERT expression is very closely related to telomerase activity. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the implications of TERT expression and telomerase activity in endometrial cancer. Fresh surgical specimens of 36 endometrial carcinomas (CA group) and 9 samples of postmenopausal endometrial tissue without malignancy (NP group) were obtained at operation in our hospital. These specimens were analyzed for telomerase activity and TERT expression by TRAP assay and RT-PCR, respectively, and the detection and quantitative analysis were made. The results for endometrial cancer were compared with those for normal endometrium and with the clinical data. In the CA group, TERT expression was detected in 35/36 subjects (97.2%), whereas in 1/9 subject (11.1%) from the NP group. Relative TERT mRNA expression was 0.50 in the CA group, and this was significantly higher compared with the level of 0.10 in the NP group (p<0.05). Telomerase activity was detected in 34/36 subjects (94.4%) from the CA group and in 3/9 subjects (33.3%) from the NP group (p<0.05), while the RTA was 30.9 and 0.2, respectively (p<0.05). There was a significant correlation between the relative TERT expression and RTA (n=45, R=0.413, p<0.05). RTA was significantly higher at an advanced surgical stage (FIGO II, III or IV) than at an early stage (FIGO 0 or I) (52.4 vs. 20.4, p<0.05), but other clinical factors showed no relationship with TERT and RTA values. The detection and quantitative analysis of telomerase activity and TERT expression is helpful for distinguishing malignant from normal endometrium when the patient is postmenopausal, even if the tumor is very small or of low malignancy.
端粒酶的三个主要成分，即人类端粒酶RNA（hTERC）、端粒酶相关蛋白（TEP1）和人类端粒酶逆转录酶（hTERT）已被鉴定出来。其中，TERT表达与端粒酶活性密切相关。本研究的目的是评估TERT表达和端粒酶活性在子宫内膜癌中的意义。在我院手术时获取了36例子宫内膜癌新鲜手术标本（CA组）和9例无恶性病变的绝经后子宫内膜组织样本（NP组）。分别通过端粒重复序列扩增法（TRAP法）和逆转录聚合酶链反应（RT-PCR）对这些标本进行端粒酶活性和TERT表达分析，并进行检测和定量分析。将子宫内膜癌的结果与正常子宫内膜的结果以及临床数据进行比较。在CA组中，35/36例受试者（97.2%）检测到TERT表达，而在NP组的1/9例受试者（11.1%）中检测到TERT表达。CA组相对TERT mRNA表达为0.50，与NP组的0.10水平相比显著更高（p<0.05）。CA组34/36例受试者（94.4%）检测到端粒酶活性，NP组3/9例受试者（33.3%）检测到端粒酶活性（p<0.05），而相对端粒酶活性分别为30.9和0.2（p<0.05）。相对TERT表达与相对端粒酶活性之间存在显著相关性（n = 45，R = 0.413，p<0.05）。手术晚期（国际妇产科联盟（FIGO）II、III或IV期）的相对端粒酶活性显著高于早期（FIGO 0或I期）（52.4对20.4，p<0.05），但其他临床因素与TERT和相对端粒酶活性值无关。当患者绝经后，即使肿瘤非常小或恶性程度低，端粒酶活性和TERT表达的检测及定量分析有助于区分恶性子宫内膜与正常子宫内膜。
