Study Of Telomerase Activity And Its Subunits In Cervical Cancer

Objective: This study is designed to investigate the role of telomerase and its subunits in the development of cervical cancer , to ascertain the co-relationship between telomerase activity and the expression of each subunit , and to explore the relationship between the expression of telomerase activity and clinical-pathological factors of cervical cancer . Methods: Forty-three cervical tumors and twenty normal control tissues were detected qualitatively and semi-quantitatively by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) for telomerase subunits , and telomerase repeat amplification protocol (TRAP) assay was used to detect the same tissues for telomerase activity qualitatively and semi-quantitatively . Results: Telomerase activity are detected in 92.5% (37/40) cervical cancer and 10% (2/20) normal control cervical tissues . Mean telomerase activity in cervical cancer and in controls are (44. 594 ±4.253 U/yg) and (3.702 ± 1.143 U/u g) .respectively , suggesting the telomerase activity is significantly higher in cervical cancer than in normal cervical tissues . It' s found that hTR and TP1 mRNA are widely expressed in both cervical carcinoma and normal controls, while hTERT mRNA is mainly expressed in cervical carcinoma , which suggests that hTERT mRNA may play a critical role in the activation of telomerase . Besides these , the expression level of hTR and TP1 are almost the same in the two groups and there is no significant difference between the two groups . But the expression level of hTERT mRNA is much higher in cervical cancer than in normal tissues . The activity and positivity of hTR and TP1 are not related to those of telomerase , but there is a strong correlation between the subunit hTERT and telomerase activity . No relationship is found between the expression of telomerase and the clinical factors , whereas the telomerase activity is related to tissue differentiation , clinical staging and lymph node metastasis . Conclusions: The activation of telomerase is correlatedwith cervical carcinogenesis and progression . Telomerase may be regarded as one of the prognostic factors in cervical cancer . Because hTERT expression parallels to telomerase activity , the hTERT raRNA may play a critical role in activation of telomerase , and hTERT mRNA may be not only a useful diagnostic director but also a promising target for gene therapy in cervical cancer .Postgraduate Zhang Jingjing Directed by Prof Ji XinqiangProf Lu - Bing...