Retinoids down-regulate telomerase and telomere length in a pathway distinct from leukemia cell differentiation

Human telomerase, a cellular reverse transcriptase (hTERT), is a nuclear ribonucleoprotein enzyme complex that catalyzes the synthesis and extension of telomeric DNA. This enzyme is specifically activated in most malignant tumors but is usually inactive in normal somatic cells, suggesting that telomerase plays an important role in cellular immortalization and tumorigenesis. Terminal maturation of tumor cells has been associated with the repression of telomerase activity. Using maturation-sensitive and -resistant NB4 cell lines, we analyzed the pattern of telomerase expression during the therapeutic treatment of acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) by retinoids. Two pathways leading to the down-regulation of hTERT and telomerase activity were identified. The first pathway results in a rapid down-regulation of telomerase that is associated with retinoic acid receptor (RAR)-dependent maturation of NB4 cells. Furthermore, during NB4 cell maturation, obtained independently of RAR by retinoic X receptor (RXR)-specific agonists (rexinoids), no change in telomerase activity was observed, suggesting that hTERT regulation requires a specific signaling and occurs autonomously. A second pathway of hTERT regulation, identified in the RAR-responsive, maturation-resistant NB4-R1 cell line, results in a down-regulation of telomerase that develops slowly during two weeks of all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) treatment. This pathway leads to telomere shortening, growth arrest, and cell death, all events that are overcome by ectopic expression of hTERT. These findings demonstrate a clear and full dissociation between the process of tumor cell maturation and the regulation of hTERT mRNA expression and telomerase activity by retinoids. We propose telomerase expression as an efficient and selective target of retinoids in the therapy of tumors.

A low threshold level of expression of mutant-template telomerase RNA inhibits human tumor cell proliferation

The ribonucleoprotein telomerase synthesizes telomeric DNA by copying an intrinsic RNA template. In most cancer cells, telomerase is highly activated. Here we report a telomerase-based antitumor strategy: expression of mutant-template telomerase RNAs in human cancer cells. We expressed mutant-template human telomerase RNAs in prostate (LNCaP) and breast (MCF-7) cancer cell lines. Even a low threshold level of expression of telomerase RNA gene constructs containing various mutant templates, but not the control wild-type template, decreased cellular viability and increased apoptosis. This occurred despite the retention of normal levels of the endogenous wild-type telomerase RNA and endogenous wild-type telomerase activity and unaltered stable telomere lengths. In vivo tumor xenografts of a breast cancer cell line expressing a mutant-template telomerase RNA also had decreased growth rates. Therefore, mutant-template telomerase RNAs exert a strongly dominant-negative effect on cell proliferation and tumor growth. These results support the potential use of mutant-template telomerase RNA expression as an antineoplastic strategy.

Telomerase expression and activity are coupled with myocyte proliferation and preservation of telomeric length in the failing heart

The role and even the existence of myocyte proliferation in the adult heart remain controversial. Documentation of cell cycle regulators, DNA synthesis, and mitotic images has not modified the view that myocardial growth can only occur from hypertrophy of an irreplaceable population of differentiated myocytes. To improve understanding the biology of the heart and obtain supportive evidence of myocyte replication, three indices of cell proliferation were analyzed in dogs affected by a progressive deterioration of cardiac performance and dilated cardiomyopathy. The magnitude of cycling myocytes was evaluated by the expression of Ki67 in nuclei. Ki67 labeling of left ventricular myocytes increased 5-fold, 12-fold, and 17-fold with the onset of moderate and severe ventricular dysfunction and overt failure, respectively. Telomerase activity in vivo is present only in multiplying cells; this enzyme increased 2.4-fold and 3.1-fold in the decompensated heart, preserving telomeric length in myocytes. The contribution of cycling myocytes to telomerase activity was determined by the colocalization of Ki67 and telomerase in myocyte nuclei. More than 50% of Ki67-positive cells expressed telomerase in the overloaded myocardium, suggesting that these myocytes were the morphological counterpart of the biochemical assay of enzyme activity. Moreover, we report that 20–30% of canine myocytes were telomerase competent, and this value was not changed by cardiac failure. In conclusion, the enhanced expression of Ki67 and telomerase activity, in combination with Ki67-telomerase labeling of myocyte nuclei, support the notion that myocyte proliferation contributes to cardiac hypertrophy of the diseased heart.

Purification of telomerase from Euplotes aediculatus: requirement of a primer 3' overhang.

Telomerase is a ribonucleoprotein enzyme that uses its internal RNA moiety as a template for synthesis of telomeric repeats at chromosome ends. Here we report the purification of telomerase from Euplotes aediculatus by affinity chromatography with antisense 2'-O-methyl oligonucleotides, a method that was developed for small nuclear ribonucleoprotein particles (snRNPs). Elution of bound ribonucleoprotein from the antisense oligonucleotide under nondenaturing conditions was achieved by a novel approach, using a displacement oligonucleotide. Polypeptides of 120 kDa and 43 kDa (a doublet) copurify with the active telomerase and appear stoichiometric with telomerase RNA. A simple model for DNA end replication predicts that after semiconservative DNA replication, telomerase will extend the newly synthesized, blunt-ended leading strand. We show that purified Euplotes telomerase has no activity with blunt-ended primers. Instead, efficient extension requires 4 to 6 single-stranded nucleotides at the 3' end. Therefore, this model predicts the existence of other activities such as helicases or nucleases that generate a single-stranded 3' end from a blunt end, thus activating the end for telomerase extension.

Telomerase activity in the regenerative basal layer of the epidermis inhuman skin and in immortal and carcinoma-derived skin keratinocytes.

Cellular senescence is defined by the limited proliferative capacity of normal cultured cells. Immortal cells overcome this regulation and proliferate indefinitively. One step in the immortalization process may be reactivation of telomerase activity, a ribonucleoprotein complex, which, by de novo synthesized telomeric TTAGGG repeats, can prevent shortening of the telomeres. Here we show that immortal human skin keratinocytes, irrespective of whether they were immortalized by simian virus 40, human papillomavirus 16, or spontaneously, as well as cell lines established from human skin squamous cell carcinomas exhibit telomerase activity. Unexpectedly, four of nine samples of intact human skin also were telomerase positive. By dissecting the skin we could show that the dermis and cultured dermal fibroblasts were telomerase negative. The epidermis and cultured skin keratinocytes, however, reproducibly exhibited enzyme activity. By separating different cell layers of the epidermis this telomerase activity could be assigned to the proliferative basal cells. Thus, in addition to hematopoietic cells, the epidermis, another example of a permanently regenerating human tissue, provides a further exception of the hypothesis that all normal human somatic tissues are telomerase deficient. Instead, these data suggest that in addition to contributing to the permanent proliferation capacity of immortal and tumor-derived keratinocytes, telomerase activity may also play a similar role in the lifetime regenerative capacity of normal epidermis in vivo.

Cell cycle-dependent modulation of telomerase activity in tumor cells.

Telomerase is a ribonucleoprotein complex that is thought to add telomeric repeats onto the ends of chromosomes during the replicative phase of the cell cycle. We tested this hypothesis by arresting human tumor cell lines at different stages of the cell cycle. Induction of quiescence by serum deprivation did not affect telomerase activity. Cells arrested at the G1/S phase of the cell cycle showed similar levels of telomerase to asynchronous cultures; progression through the S phase was associated with increased telomerase activity. The highest level of telomerase activity was detected in S-phase cells. In contrast, cells arrested at G2/M phase of the cell cycle were almost devoid of telomerase activity. Diverse cell cycle blockers, including transforming growth factor beta1 and cytotoxic agents, also caused inhibition of telomerase activity. These results establish a direct link between telomerase activity and progression through the cell cycle.

Association of the Est1 protein with telomerase activity in yeast.

The est1 mutant was previously identified because it is defective in telomere maintenance and displays a senescent phenotype. To see if Est1 might be a component of yeast telomerase, we examined immunoprecipitated Est1. The yeast telomerase RNA Tlc1 specifically coprecipitated with Est1. Furthermore, the Est1 immunoprecipitates contained a telomerase-like activity. As expected for yeast telomerase, the activity elongated telomeric primers, it required dGTP and dTTP but not dATP or dCTP, and it was sensitive to RNase A. Further evidence suggesting that the activity was telomerase was obtained from experiments using a TLC1-1 mutant strain, which has a mutant telomerase template containing dG residues. The activity immunoprecipitated from TLC1-1 mutant strains incorporated 32P-labeled dCTP, while activity from TLC1 strains did not. Use of different telomeric primer substrates revealed two distinguishable telomerase-like activities: one was dependent on TLC1, and one was not. The TLC1-independent activity may be due to a second yeast telomerase RNA, or it may be some other kind of activity.

Differentiation of immortal cells inhibits telomerase activity.

Telomerase, a ribonucleic acid-protein complex, adds hexameric repeats of 5'-TTAGGG-3' to the ends of mammalian chromosomal DNA (telomeres) to compensate for the progressive loss that occurs with successive rounds of DNA replication. Although somatic cells do not express telomerase, germ cells and immortalized cells, including neoplastic cells, express this activity. To determine whether the phenotypic differentiation of immortalized cells is linked to the regulation of telomerase activity, terminal differentiation was induced in leukemic cell lines by diverse agents. A pronounced downregulation of telomerase activity was produced as a consequence of the differentiated status. The differentiation-inducing agents did not directly inhibit telomerase activity, suggesting that the inhibition of telomerase activity is in response to induction of differentiation. The loss of telomerase activity was not due to the production of an inhibitor, since extracts from differentiated cells did not cause inhibition of telomerase activity. By using additional cell lineages including epithelial and embryonal stem cells, down-regulation of telomerase activity was found to be a general response to the induction of differentiation. These findings provide the first direct link between telomerase activity and terminal differentiation and may provide a model to study regulation of telomerase activity.

Telomerase activity in normal and malignant hematopoietic cells.

Bone marrow and peripheral blood leukocytes from 19 leukemia patients were found to contain telomerase activity detectable by a PCR-based assay. Telomerase was also detectable in nonmalignant bone marrow and peripheral blood leukocytes from normal donors, including fractions enriched for granulocytes, T lymphocytes, and monocytes/B cells. Semiquantitative comparison revealed considerable overlap between telomerase activities in samples from normal subjects and leukemia patients, confounding evaluation of the role of telomerase in this disease. These data indicate that human telomerase is not restricted to immortal cells and suggest that the somatic expression of this enzyme may be more widespread than was previously inferred from the decline of human telomeres.

Developmental and tissue-specific regulation of mouse telomerase and telomere length.

Telomere shortening and telomerase activation in human somatic cells have been implicated in cell immortalization and cellular senescence. To further study the role of telomerase in immortalization, we assayed telomere length and telomerase activity in primary mouse fibroblasts, in spontaneously immortalized cell clones, and in mouse tissues. In the primary cell cultures, telomere length decreased with increased cell doublings and telomerase activity was not detected. In contrast, in spontaneously immortalized clones, telomeres were maintained at a stable length and telomerase activity was present. To determine if telomere shortening occurs in vivo, we assayed for telomerase and telomere length in tissues from mice of different ages. Telomere length was similar among different tissues within a newborn mouse, whereas telomere length differed between tissues in an adult mouse. These findings suggest that there is tissue-specific regulation of mouse telomerase during development and aging in vivo. In contrast to human tissues, most mouse tissues had active telomerase. The presence of telomerase in these tissues may reflect the ease of immortalization of primary mouse cells relative to human cells in culture.

Evaluation of DNA enzymes targeted against the RNA component of human telomerase

Glioblastoma Multiforme (GBM) is a highly malignant form of brain cancer for which there is currently no effective cure. Consequently, developing new therapies and elucidating effective targets is crucial for this fatal disease. In recent years, DNA enzymes, deoxyribonucleic acid molecules with enzymatic activity, have emerged. In the same manner as ribozymes, DNA enzymes are able to effect cleavage of RNA in a sequence-specific manner, and operate with catalytic efficiency. In this study, two DNA enzymes were designed to target the template region of human telomerase RNA (hTR), utilising the 10-23 and 8-17 catalytic motifs elucidated by Santoro and Joyce (1997). Telomerase is an RNA-dependent DNA polymerase, which stabilises telomere lengths by adding hexameric repeats (TTAGGG in humans) to chromosome termini, thus preventing the telomere shortening that usually occurs during mitotic cell division. Telomerase activity, whilst absent in normal somatic tissues, is present in almost 90% of all tumours. Thus, there is speculation that telomerase may be the much sought universal target for therapeutic intervention in cancer. In vitro cleavage assays showed both DNA enzymes to be catalytically competent. Unmodified phosphodiester (PO) backbone DNA enzymes were rapidly degraded in the presence of serum, with a half-life of 10 minutes. The common approach of introducing phosphorothioate (PS) linkages was used in an effort to overcome this instability. As a result of concurrent activity and stability studies on the DNA enzymes with various numbers of PS linkages, the DNA enzymes with a PO core and PS arms were chosen for use in further cell work. The cleavage activity of both was shown to be specific and affected by temperature, pH, MgCI2 concentration and enzyme concentration. Both DNA enzyme motifs reduced telomerase activity in cell lysates, as assessed by the telomerase repeat amplification protocol (TRAP) with an IC50 of 100nM. DNA enzymes being polyanionic molecules do not readily cross biological barriers. Cellular association of naked DNA enzyme was inefficient at less than 2%. Cellular delivery of the DNA enzymes was effectively improved using commercial cationic lipid formulations. However, the lipid-mediated delivery of DNA enzymes to U87-MG cells over a 4-hour period did not significantly inhibit cell proliferation compared to controls. This is possibly due to an expected lag period between the inhibition of telomere maintenance and cell death. Therefore, biodegradable polymer microspheres were investigated as a potential delivery option for prolonged and sustained delivery. In vitro release profiles showed that after an initial burst, sustained release of DNA enzymes was observed over 35 days. Finally, the efficacy and specificity of the DNA enzymes were demonstrated in a luciferase based reporter assay. Specific inhibition of luciferase expression was displayed at 10nM. Thus DNA enzymes have potential against endogenous cellular targets.

Extra-nuclear telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) regulates glucose transport in skeletal muscle cells

Telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) is a key component of the telomerase complex. By lengthening telomeres in DNA strands, TERT increases senescent cell lifespan. Mice that lack TERT age much faster and exhibit age-related conditions such as osteoporosis, diabetes and neurodegeneration. Accelerated telomere shortening in both human and animal models has been documented in conditions associated with insulin resistance, including T2DM. We investigated the role of TERT, in regulating cellular glucose utilisation by using the myoblastoma cell line C2C12, as well as primary mouse and human skeletal muscle cells. Inhibition of TERT expression or activity by using siRNA (100. nM) or specific inhibitors (100. nM) reduced basal 2-deoxyglucose uptake by ~. 50%, in all cell types, without altering insulin responsiveness. In contrast, TERT over-expression increased glucose uptake by 3.25-fold. In C2C12 cells TERT protein was mostly localised intracellularly and stimulation of cells with insulin induced translocation to the plasma membrane. Furthermore, co-immunoprecipitation experiments in C2C12 cells showed that TERT was constitutively associated with glucose transporters (GLUTs) 1, 4 and 12 via an insulin insensitive interaction that also did not require intact PI3-K and mTOR pathways. Collectively, these findings identified a novel extra-nuclear function of TERT that regulates an insulin-insensitive pathway involved in glucose uptake in human and mouse skeletal muscle cells. © 2014 Elsevier B.V.

Cellular senescence and longevity of osteophyte-derived mesenchymal stem cells compared to patient-matched bone marrow stromal cells

This study aimed to determine the cellular aging of osteophyte-derived mesenchymal cells (oMSCs) in comparison to patient-matched bone marrow stromal cells (bMSCs). Extensive expansion of the cell cultures was performed and early and late passage cells (passages 4 and 9, respectively) were used to study signs of cellular aging, telomere length, telomerase activity, and cell-cycle-related gene expression. Our results showed that cellular aging was more prominent in bMSCs than in oMSCs, and that oMSCs had longer telomere length in late passages compared with bMSCs, although there was no significant difference in telomere lengths in the early passages in either cell type. Telomerase activity was detectable only in early passage oMSCs and not in bMSCs. In osteophyte tissues telomerase-positive cells were found to be located perivascularly and were Stro-1 positive. Fifteen cell-cycle regulator genes were investigated and only three genes (APC, CCND2, and BMP2) were differentially expressed between bMSC and oMSC. Our results indicate that oMSCs retain a level of telomerase activity in vitro, which may account for the relatively greater longevity of these cells, compared with bMSCs, by preventing replicative senescence. J. Cell. Biochem. 108: 839-850, 2009. (c) 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Characterisation of mesenchymal cells from osteophytes in osteoarthritis

Osteophytes form through the process of chondroid metamorphosis of fibrous tissue followed by endochondral ossification. Osteophytes have been found to consist of three different mesenchymal tissue regions including endochondral bone formation within cartilage residues, intra-membranous bone formation within fibrous tissue and bone formation within bone marrow spaces. All these features provide evidence of mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) involvement in osteophyte formation; nevertheless, it remains to be characterised. MSC from numerous mesenchymal tissues have been isolated but bone marrow remains the “ideal” due to the ease of ex vivo expansion and multilineage potential. However, the bone marrow stroma has a relatively low number of MSC, something that necessitates the need for long-term culture and extensive population doublings in order to obtain a sufficient number of cells for therapeutic applications. MSC in vitro have limited proliferative capacity and extensive passaging compromises differentiation potential. To overcome this barrier, tissue derived MSC are of strong interest for extensive study and characterisation, with a focus on their potential application in therapeutic tissue regeneration. To date, no MSC type cell has been isolated from osteophyte tissue, despite this tissue exhibiting all the hallmark features of a regenerative tissue. Therefore, this study aimed to isolate and characterise cells from osteophyte tissues in relation to their phenotype, differentiation potential, immuno-modulatory properties, proliferation, cellular ageing, longevity and chondrogenesis in in vitro defect model in comparison to patient matched bone marrow stromal cells (bMSC). Osteophyte derived cells were isolated from osteophyte tissue samples collected during knee replacement surgery. These cells were characterised by the expression of cell surface antigens, differentiation potential into mesenchymal lineages, growth kinetics and modulation of allo-immune responses. Multipotential stem cells were identified from all osteophyte samples namely osteophyte derived mesenchymal stem cells (oMSC). Extensively expanded cell cultures (passage 4 and 9 respectively) were used to confirm cytogenetic stability and study signs of cellular aging, telomere length and telomerase activity. Cultured cells at passage 4 were used to determine 84 pathway focused stem cell related gene expression profile. Micro mass pellets were cultured in chondrogenic differentiation media for 21 days for phenotypic and chondrogenic related gene expression. Secondly, cell pellets differentiated overnight were placed into articular cartilage defects and cultured for further 21 days in control medium and chondrogenic medium to study chondrogenesis and cell behaviour. The surface antigen expression of oMSC was consistent with that of mesenchymal stem cells, such as lacking the haematopoietic and common leukocyte markers (CD34, CD45) while expressing those related to adhesion (CD29, CD166, CD44) and stem cells (CD90, CD105, CD73). The proliferation capacity of oMSC in culture was superior to that of bMSC, and they readily differentiated into tissues of the mesenchymal lineages. oMSC also demonstrated the ability to suppress allogeneic T-cell proliferation, which was associated with the expression of tryptophan degrading enzyme indoleamine 2,3 dioxygenase (IDO). Cellular aging was more prominent in late passage bMSC than in oMSC. oMSC had longer telomere length in late passages compared with bMSC, although there was no significant difference in telomere lengths in the early passages in either cell type. Telomerase activity was detectable only in early passage oMSC and not in bMSC. In osteophyte tissues telomerase positive cells were found to be located peri vascularly and were Stro-1 positive. Eighty-four pathway-focused genes were investigated and only five genes (APC, CCND2, GJB2, NCAM and BMP2) were differentially expressed between bMSC and oMSC. Chondrogenically induced micro mass pellets of oMSC showed higher staining intensity for proteoglycans, aggrecan and collagen II. Differential expression of chondrogenic related genes showed up regulation of Aggrecan and Sox 9 in oMSC and collagen II in bMSC. The in vitro defect models of oMSC in control medium showed rounded and aggregated cells staining positively for proteoglycan and presence of some extracellular matrix. In contrast, defects with bMSC showed fragmentation and loss of cells, fibroblast-like cell morphology staining positively for proteoglycans. For defects maintained in chondrogenic medium, rounded, aggregated and proteoglycan positive cells were found in both oMSC and bMSC cultures. Extracellular matrix and cellular integration into newly formed matrix was evident only in oMSC defects. For analysis of chondrocyte hypertrophy, strong expression of type X collagen could be noticed in the pellet cultures and transplanted bMSC. In summary, this study demonstrated that osteophyte derived cells had similar properties to mesenchymal stem cells in the expression of antigen phenotype, differential potential and suppression of allo-immune response. Furthermore, when compared to bMSC, oMSC maintained a higher proliferative capacity due to a retained level of telomerase activity in vitro, which may account for the relatively longer telomeres delaying growth arrest by replicative senescence compared with bMSC. oMSC behaviour in defects supported chondrogenesis which implies that cells derived from regenerative tissue can be an alternative source of stem cells and have a potential clinical application for therapeutic stem cell based tissue regeneration.