Department of Science, University "ROMA TRE", 00146 Rome, Italy.
Unit of Muscular and Neurodegenerative Disorders, Laboratory of Molecular Medicine, Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital IRCCS, 00146 Rome, Italy.
Int J Mol Sci. 2023 Feb 23;24(5):4450. doi: 10.3390/ijms24054450.
Telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) is the catalytic subunit of telomerase holoenzyme, which adds telomeric DNA repeats on chromosome ends to counteract telomere shortening. In addition, there is evidence of TERT non-canonical functions, among which is an antioxidant role. In order to better investigate this role, we tested the response to X-rays and HO treatment in hTERT-overexpressing human fibroblasts (HF-TERT). We observed in HF-TERT a reduced induction of reactive oxygen species and an increased expression of the proteins involved in the antioxidant defense. Therefore, we also tested a possible role of TERT inside mitochondria. We confirmed TERT mitochondrial localization, which increases after oxidative stress (OS) induced by HO treatment. We next evaluated some mitochondrial markers. The basal mitochondria quantity appeared reduced in HF-TERT compared to normal fibroblasts and an additional reduction was observed after OS; nevertheless, the mitochondrial membrane potential and morphology were better conserved in HF-TERT. Our results suggest a protective function of TERT against OS, also preserving mitochondrial functionality.
端粒酶逆转录酶(TERT)是端粒酶全酶的催化亚基,它在染色体末端添加端粒 DNA 重复序列,以抵消端粒缩短。此外,有证据表明 TERT 具有非典型功能,其中包括抗氧化作用。为了更好地研究这种作用,我们在 hTERT 过表达的人成纤维细胞(HF-TERT)中测试了对 X 射线和 HO 处理的反应。我们观察到 HF-TERT 中活性氧的诱导减少,以及抗氧化防御相关蛋白的表达增加。因此,我们还测试了 TERT 在线粒体中的可能作用。我们证实了 TERT 的线粒体定位,HO 处理诱导氧化应激(OS)后其表达增加。接下来,我们评估了一些线粒体标记物。与正常成纤维细胞相比,HF-TERT 中的基础线粒体数量减少,OS 后观察到进一步减少;然而,HF-TERT 中线粒体膜电位和形态更好地保持。我们的结果表明 TERT 具有对抗 OS 的保护作用,同时还能维持线粒体功能。