Mutirangura A, Supiyaphun P, Trirekapan S, Sriuranpong V, Sakuntabhai A, Yenrudi S, Voravud N
Genetics Unit, Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand.
Cancer Res. 1996 Aug 1;56(15):3530-3.
The expression of telomerase, a ribonucleoprotein complex, is necessary to overcome cellular senescence, and it is associated with immortal cells and cancer. However, its role in precancerous lesions such as oral leukoplakias is less known. The purpose of this study is to investigate the presence of telomerase activity in oral leukoplakia and the relationship between the enzyme and multistep tumorigenesis. Telomerase activity was detectable in 14 of 16 human head and neck squamous cell carcinomas and 10 of 26 oral leukoplakia tissues. We also showed that the expression of telomerase in the premalignant lesions was associated with phenotypic progression, the degree of dysplasia. These results indicate that telomerase is activated frequently during the late stage of oral premalignancy and may play a crucial role in head and neck squamous cell carcinogenesis.
端粒酶是一种核糖核蛋白复合体，其表达对于克服细胞衰老至关重要，并且与永生细胞及癌症相关。然而，它在口腔白斑等癌前病变中的作用却鲜为人知。本研究的目的是调查口腔白斑中端粒酶活性的存在情况以及该酶与多步骤肿瘤发生之间的关系。在16例人类头颈部鳞状细胞癌中的14例以及26例口腔白斑组织中的10例中可检测到端粒酶活性。我们还表明，癌前病变中端粒酶的表达与表型进展即发育异常程度相关。这些结果表明，端粒酶在口腔癌前病变晚期频繁被激活，并且可能在头颈部鳞状细胞癌发生过程中起关键作用。
