This meta-analysis suggests that the TERT genetic polymorphism rs2853676 is associated with increased risk of glioma, lung adenocarcinoma and ovarian cancer among Caucasians.
Using our newly developed TERT-specific monoclonal antibody (TMab-6) applicable to human tissue, we found an unexpected increase in TERT expression in <i>TERT</i>-wildtype as well as <i>TERT</i>-mutated gliomas and in tumor vasculature.
Glioma and human telomerase catalytic subunit-immortalized fibroblast BJ-5ta cell lines transduced with retrovirus vectors were assayed for killing activity by ganciclovir.
Genome-wide association studies have recently identified single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) in five loci at 5p15.33 (rs2736100, TERT), 8q24.21 (rs4295627, CCDC26), 9p21.3 (rs4977756, CDKN2A/CDKN2B), 20q13.33 (rs6010620, RTEL1), and 11q23.3 (rs498872, PHLDB1) to be associated with glioma risk.
Triple-positive (IDH1 and TERT mutation with 1p19q codeletion) glioma tended to be oligodendroglioma present with much better clinical outcome compared to TERT mutation only group who is glioblastoma inclined (median overall survival 39 months VS 18 months).
Multivariate analysis incorporating tumor status based on the presence of <i>IDH</i> mutations, <i>TERT</i> promoter mutations, and 1p/19q codeletion showed that in lower-grade gliomas, high NLR predicted poorer survival for the triple-negative, IDH mutation only, TERT mutation only, and IDH and TERT mutation groups.
In analyses including glioma cases with a family history of brain tumours (n = 104) and control subjects free ofglioma at baseline, three of seven SNPs were associated with glioma risk: rs2736100 (5p15.33, TERT), rs4977756 (9p21.3, CDKN2A-CDKN2B) and rs6010620 (20q13.33, RTEL1).
Induction of differentiation and TERT-knockdown in glioma stem cells led to a marked reduction in EGFR expression, cancer stemness, and anticancer drug resistance.
Recently, single nucleotide polymorphisms in the region of the human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) gene were associated with various malignancies, including glioma, lung and urinary bladder cancer, and telomerase RNA gene hTERC genotypes were recently linked to TL.
Four LTL-associated SNPs were significantly associated with glioma risk in pooled analyses, including those in the telomerase component genes TERC (O.R.=1.14; 95% C.I.=1.03-1.28) and TERT (O.R.=1.39; 95% C.I.=1.27-1.52), and those in the CST complex genes OBFC1 (O.R.=1.18; 95% C.I.=1.05-1.33) and CTC1 (O.R.=1.14; 95% C.I.=1.02-1.28).
Seven independent chromosomal loci have robustly been associated with glioma risk: 5p15.33 (rs2736100, TERT), 8q24.21 (rs4295627, CCDC26), 9p21.3 (rs4977756, CDKN2A-CDKN2B), 20q13.33 (rs6010620, RTEL1), and 11q23.3 (rs498872, PHLDB1), and two loci at 7p11.2 (rs11979158 and rs2252586, EGFR).
We identified two tSNPs to be associated with glioma susceptibility (rs1695, GSTP1, P = 0.019; rs2853676, TERT, P = 0.039), which we confirmed using dominant and additive model analyses.
The human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) promoter, an excellent tumor-specific promoter, has potential value for targeted gene therapy of glioma.
Increasing evidences have implicated somatic gain-of-function mutations at the telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) promoter as one of the major mechanisms that promote transcriptional activation of TERT and subsequently maintain telomere length in human cancers including glioma.
Significant association with glioma risk was observed for rs2853677 [GG vs. GA: adjusted OR = 1.46, p = 5.51 × 10(-6), GG vs. AA: adjusted OR = 1.72, p = 7.64 × 10(-6), GG vs. GA and AA: adjusted OR = 1.96, p = 6.8 × 10(-6)] in TERT and an uncommon CLPTM1L haplotype G-T-A of rs4635969, rs6554759 and rs414965 (haplotype frequency = 0.07) was associated with higher glioma risk compared with the most common G-C-G haplotype (adjusted OR = 1.44, simulated p = 6.00 × 10(-3) under additive model).
Univariate analyses showed that ACYP2 rs12615793 and TERTrs2853676 loci affected progression-free survival in glioma patients; both ZNF208 rs8105767 and ACYP2 rs843720 affected the OS of patients with low-grade gliomas.
Two recent genome-wide association studies reported that single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in (or near) TERT (5p15), CCDC26 (8q24), CDKN2A/B (9p21), PHLDB1 (11q23), and RTEL1 (20q13) are associated with infiltrating glioma.
Our study indicates that TERTrs2853676 polymorphisms correlate with glioma survival and recurrence rates in a Chinese population, which suggests that they could potentially serve as prognostic markers in glioma patients.
The pooled results calculated by fixed-effects model suggested that TERT mutations were associated with poor prognosis of glioma patients (HR 1.68, 95 % CI 1.43-1.97).
Coherent with in vitro findings, pharmacological inhibition of TERT by costunolide decreased lipid accumulation and elevated ATM expression in heterotypic xenograft glioma mouse model.
The role of telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) in gliomagenesis has been recently further strengthened by the frequent occurrence of TERT promoter mutations (TERTp-mut) in gliomas and evidence that the TERT SNP genetic rs2736100 influences glioma risk.