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hTERT antagonizes p53-induced apoptosis independently of telomerase activity

Abstract

The p53 tumor suppressor controls cell growth and survival through transcriptional regulation of gene expression. Previously, we found that the human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) gene is downregulated by p53. To investigate if hTERT downregulation has a role in p53-dependent apoptosis, we tested if constitutive expression of telomerase could inhibit p53-induced apoptosis. Here we show that constitutive hTERT expression results in increased survival following activation of exogenous temperature-sensitive p53 in BL41 Burkitt lymphoma cells. Similarly, constitutive hTERT expression inhibited wild-type p53-dependent apoptosis in response to mitomycin C or 5-fluorouracil in HCT116 colon carcinoma cells carrying endogenous p53. A telomerase-inactive hTERT mutant was equally efficient in antagonizing p53-induced apoptosis. These findings support the notion that hTERT has antiapoptotic activity and demonstrate that p53-mediated downregulation of hTERT is critical for efficient p53-dependent apoptosis.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Robert A Weinberg, Whitehead Institute, for the hTERT and DN-hTERT plasmids, Stanley Korsmeyer, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, for the Bcl-2 plasmid, and Bert Vogelstein, Johns Hopkins Oncology Center, for the HCT116 cells. We also thank Torbjörn Ramqvist, Vladimir Bykov and Helene Stridh, Cancer Center Karolinska, and Marikki Laiho, Haartman Institute, Biomedicum, Helsinki, for advice and discussions. This work was supported by grants from the Swedish Cancer Society (Cancerfonden), Ingabritt och Arne Lundbergs Stiftelse, and the Karolinska Institute.

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Correspondence to Klas G Wiman.

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Rahman, R., Latonen, L. & Wiman, K. hTERT antagonizes p53-induced apoptosis independently of telomerase activity. Oncogene 24, 1320–1327 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.onc.1208232

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