Characterization of Telomerase (hTERT) in Solid and Hematopoietic Cancer Cell Lines Reveals Different Expression Patterns

Background/aim: Overexpression of human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) allows disordered proliferation and immortality of malignant cells, which has been of interest for the development of targeted therapies. The present study aimed to characterize hTERT gene expression in a series of cancer cell lines. Materials and Methods: Leukemia cell lines K-562, its vincristine-resistant derivative K-562-Lucena1 and daunorubicin-resistant derivative FEPS; gastric adenocarcinoma lines AGP01, ACP02 and ACP03; melanoma SK-Mel-103 cells; and MN01 and MRC5, two nonneoplastic cell lines were analyzed by real-time polymerase chain reaction in order to evaluate hTERT gene expression. Results: In leukemia cells, hTERT gene expression was significantly increased only in K-562 (p<0.05) and K-562-Lucena1 (p<0.001) when compared to the calibrator MRC5. For solid tumor types, only ACP03 presented a significant hTERT gene expression when compared to ACP02 (p<0.05). hTERT gene expression in K-562 and K-562-L ucena was significantly increased (p<0.05 to p<0.001) compared to all other cell lines except ACP03. Conclusion: In leukemia cell lines, hTERT gene overexpression was shown to be a potential target for pharmacological assays for drugs aiming to inhibit telomerase activity and control cell proliferation in oncohematological diseases.