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Telomeres and Telomerase in Hematopoietic Dysfunction: Prognostic Implications and Pharmacological Interventions. Int J Mol Sci 2017; 18:ijms18112267. [PMID: 29143804 PMCID: PMC5713237 DOI: 10.3390/ijms18112267] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/29/2017] [Revised: 10/15/2017] [Accepted: 10/24/2017] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
Leukocyte telomere length (TL) has been suggested as a marker of biological age in healthy individuals, but can also reflect inherited and acquired hematopoietic dysfunctions or indicate an increased turnover of the hematopoietic stem and progenitor cell compartment. In addition, TL is able to predict the response rate of tyrosine kinase inhibitor therapy in chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), indicates clinical outcomes in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), and can be used as screening tool for genetic sequencing of selected genes in patients with inherited bone marrow failure syndromes (BMFS). In tumor cells and clonal hematopoietic disorders, telomeres are continuously stabilized by reactivation of telomerase, which can selectively be targeted by telomerase-specific therapy. The use of the telomerase inhibitor Imetelstat in patients with essential thrombocythmia or myelofibrosis as well as the use of dendritic cell-based telomerase vaccination in AML patients with complete remissions are promising examples for anti-telomerase targeted strategies in hematologic malignancies. In contrast, the elevation in telomerase levels through treatment with androgens has become an exciting clinical intervention for patients with BMFS. Here, we review recent developments, which highlight the impact of telomeres and telomerase targeted therapies in hematologic dysfunctions.
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52
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Lagunas AM, Wu J, Crowe DL. Telomere DNA damage signaling regulates cancer stem cell evolution, epithelial mesenchymal transition, and metastasis. Oncotarget 2017; 8:80139-80155. [PMID: 29113290 PMCID: PMC5655185 DOI: 10.18632/oncotarget.20960] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/07/2016] [Accepted: 08/25/2017] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Chromosome ends are protected by telomeres that prevent DNA damage response and degradation. When telomeres become critically short, the DNA damage response is activated at chromosome ends which induces cellular senescence or apoptosis. Telomeres are protected by the double stranded DNA binding protein TRF2 and maintained by telomerase or a recombination based mechanism known as alternative lengthening of telomeres (ALT). Telomerase is expressed in the basal layer of the epidermis, and stem cells in epidermis have longer telomeres than proliferating populations. Stem cell expansion has been associated with epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in cancer. EMT is a critical process in cancer progression in which cells acquire spindle morphology, migrate from the primary tumor, and spread to distant anatomic sites. Our previous study demonstrated that loss of TRF2 expression observed in human squamous cell carcinomas expanded metastatic cancer stem cells during mouse skin carcinogenesis. To determine if telomerase inhibition could block the TRF2-null mediated expansion of metastatic clones, we characterized skin carcinogenesis in a conditional TRF2/Terc double null mutant mouse. Loss of TRF2 and Terc expression resulted in telomere DNA damage, severely depleted CD34 + and Lgr6+ cancer stem cells, and induced terminal differentiation of metastatic cancer cells. However a novel cancer stem cell population evolved in primary tumors exhibiting genomic instability, ALT, and EMT. Surprisingly we discovered that metastatic clones evolved prior to histopathologic onset of primary tumors. These results have important implications for understanding the evolution and treatment of metastatic cancer.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Jianchun Wu
- University of Illinois Cancer Center, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - David L Crowe
- University of Illinois Cancer Center, Chicago, IL, USA
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53
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Wu D, Zhu G, Zeng J, Song W, Wang K, Wang X, Guo P, He D. Genetic variations in TERC and TERT genes are associated with renal cell carcinoma risk in a Chinese Han population. Oncotarget 2017; 8:76832-76842. [PMID: 29100352 PMCID: PMC5652746 DOI: 10.18632/oncotarget.20163] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/02/2017] [Accepted: 06/27/2017] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is a common malignant tumor of the urinary system, the pathogenesis of RCC is still unclear. It is reported that genetic variations in telomere length related-genes TERT and TERC are involved in the many types of cancers. However, little is known about the association between TERT and TERC polymorphisms and susceptibility to RCC risk. To solve this problem, a total of 293 patients with primary renal cell carcinoma and 459 healthy people were recruited in our study. Six SNPs of TERC and TERT were genotyped, and association analysis was performed. We found TERC-rs35073794 and TERT-rs10069690 were associated with an increased risk of RCC in an allele model. (OR =2.39, 95% CI = 0.99-5.80, p = 0.047; OR =1.39, 95% CI = 1.07-1.81, p = 0.014, respectively). The genotype "TC" of rs10069690 was associated with an increased risk of RCC in the genotype model. (OR =1.52, 95% CI = 1.11-2.08, p = 0.009).TERC-rs35073794 was associated with an increased risk of RCC in the codominant model. (OR =2.61, 95% CI = 1.01-6.76, p = 0.045). Rs10069690 was associated with an increased risk of RCC under the dominant model. (OR=1.44, 95% CI= 1.04-2.01, p = 0.03). Haplotype "CA" was found to be associated with a decreased risk of RCC while haplotype "TA" was associated with an increased risk of RCC without adjustment for gender, age and body mass index (BMI). (OR=0.07; 95% CI= 0.01-0.54; p=0.011; OR= 1.24; 95% CI= 0.92-1.65; p=0.013, respectively). Rs35073794, rs10936599 and rs10069690 were positively correlated with the age older than 55 (OR= 3.27, 95%CI= 1.08-9.93, p=0.031; OR= 1.56, 95%CI= 1.03-2.37, p= 0.034; OR= 4.94, 95%CI= 1.18-20.70, p= 0.022, respectively) with or without history of drinking(OR= 4.47, 95%CI= 0.99-20.25, p= 0.024; OR= 2.62, 95%CI= 1.13-6.08, p= 0.022; OR=2.44, 95%CI=1.03-5.78, p= 0.04, respectively) and clinical stage I/II RCC (OR=2.62, 95%CI=1.02-6.74, p= 0.045; OR= 2.23, 95%CI= 1.08-4.60, p= 0.028; OR= 1.63, 95%CI= 1.17-2.27, p= 0.014, respectively). Our study indicated a significant association between SNPs in the TERC, TERT and RCC risk in a Chinese Han population. It could be used as diagnostic and prognostic markers in clinical studies of renal cell carcinoma patients.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dapeng Wu
- Department of Urology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, China.,Oncology Research Lab, Key Laboratory of Environment and Genes Related to Diseases, Ministry of Education, Xi'an, Shaanxi, China
| | - Guodong Zhu
- Department of Urology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, China.,Oncology Research Lab, Key Laboratory of Environment and Genes Related to Diseases, Ministry of Education, Xi'an, Shaanxi, China
| | - Jin Zeng
- Department of Urology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, China.,Oncology Research Lab, Key Laboratory of Environment and Genes Related to Diseases, Ministry of Education, Xi'an, Shaanxi, China
| | - Wenbin Song
- Department of Urology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, China.,Oncology Research Lab, Key Laboratory of Environment and Genes Related to Diseases, Ministry of Education, Xi'an, Shaanxi, China
| | - Ke Wang
- Department of Urology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, China.,Oncology Research Lab, Key Laboratory of Environment and Genes Related to Diseases, Ministry of Education, Xi'an, Shaanxi, China
| | - Xinyang Wang
- Department of Urology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, China.,Oncology Research Lab, Key Laboratory of Environment and Genes Related to Diseases, Ministry of Education, Xi'an, Shaanxi, China
| | - Peng Guo
- Department of Urology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, China.,Oncology Research Lab, Key Laboratory of Environment and Genes Related to Diseases, Ministry of Education, Xi'an, Shaanxi, China
| | - Dalin He
- Department of Urology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, China.,Oncology Research Lab, Key Laboratory of Environment and Genes Related to Diseases, Ministry of Education, Xi'an, Shaanxi, China
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54
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Williams J, Heppel NH, Britt-Compton B, Grimstead JW, Jones RE, Tauro S, Bowen DT, Knapper S, Groves M, Hills RK, Pepper C, Baird DM, Fegan C. Telomere length is an independent prognostic marker in MDS but not in de novo AML. Br J Haematol 2017; 178:240-249. [PMID: 28486748 DOI: 10.1111/bjh.14666] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/12/2016] [Accepted: 01/16/2017] [Indexed: 02/11/2024]
Abstract
Telomere dysfunction is implicated in the generation of large-scale genomic rearrangements that drive progression to malignancy. In this study we used high-resolution single telomere length analysis (STELA) to examine the potential role of telomere dysfunction in 80 myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) and 95 de novo acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) patients. Despite the MDS cohort being older, they had significantly longer telomeres than the AML cohort (P < 0·0001) where telomere length was also significantly shorter in younger AML patients (age <60 years) (P = 0·02) and in FLT3 internal tandem duplication-mutated AML patients (P = 0·03). Using a previously determined telomere length threshold for telomere dysfunction (3·81 kb) did not provide prognostic resolution in AML [Hazard ratio (HR) = 0·68, P = 0·2]. In contrast, the same length threshold was highly prognostic for overall survival in the MDS cohort (HR = 5·0, P < 0·0001). Furthermore, this telomere length threshold was an independent parameter in multivariate analysis when adjusted for age, gender, cytogenetic risk group, number of cytopenias and International Prognostic Scoring System (IPSS) score (HR = 2·27, P < 0·0001). Therefore, telomere length should be assessed in a larger prospective study to confirm its prognostic role in MDS with a view to integrating this variable into a revised IPSS.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jenna Williams
- Division of Cancer and Genetics, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK
| | - Nicole H Heppel
- Division of Cancer and Genetics, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK
| | - Bethan Britt-Compton
- Division of Cancer and Genetics, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK
| | - Julia W Grimstead
- Division of Cancer and Genetics, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK
| | - Rhiannon E Jones
- Division of Cancer and Genetics, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK
| | - Sudhir Tauro
- Department of Haematology, Ninewells Hospital, Dundee, UK
| | - David T Bowen
- Department of Haematology, St James's Institute of Oncology, Leeds, UK
| | - Steven Knapper
- Division of Cancer and Genetics, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK
| | - Michael Groves
- Department of Haematology, Ninewells Hospital, Dundee, UK
| | - Robert K Hills
- Division of Cancer and Genetics, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK
| | - Chris Pepper
- Division of Cancer and Genetics, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK
| | - Duncan M Baird
- Division of Cancer and Genetics, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK
| | - Chris Fegan
- Division of Cancer and Genetics, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK
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55
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Hyatt S, Jones RE, Heppel NH, Grimstead JW, Fegan C, Jackson GH, Hills R, Allan JM, Pratt G, Pepper C, Baird DM. Telomere length is a critical determinant for survival in multiple myeloma. Br J Haematol 2017; 178:94-98. [PMID: 28342200 DOI: 10.1111/bjh.14643] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/28/2016] [Accepted: 12/31/2016] [Indexed: 01/25/2023]
Abstract
The variable clinical outcomes of Multiple Myeloma (MM) patients are incompletely defined by current prognostication tools. We examined the clinical utility of high-resolution telomere length analysis as a prognostic marker in MM. Cohort stratification, using a previously determined length threshold for telomere dysfunction, revealed that patients with short telomeres had a significantly shorter overall survival (P < 0·0001; HR = 3·4). Multivariate modelling using forward selection identified International Staging System (ISS) stage as the most important prognostic factor, followed by age and telomere length. Importantly, each ISS prognostic subset could be further risk-stratified according to telomere length, supporting the inclusion of this parameter as a refinement of the ISS.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sam Hyatt
- Division of Cancer & Genetics, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK
| | - Rhiannon E Jones
- Division of Cancer & Genetics, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK
| | - Nicole H Heppel
- Division of Cancer & Genetics, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK
| | - Julia W Grimstead
- Division of Cancer & Genetics, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK
| | - Chris Fegan
- Division of Cancer & Genetics, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK
| | - Graham H Jackson
- Department of Haematology, Royal Victoria Infirmary, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
| | - Robert Hills
- Division of Cancer & Genetics, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK
| | - James M Allan
- Northern Institute for Cancer Research, Newcastle University, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK
| | - Guy Pratt
- Centre for Clinical Haematology, University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, Birmingham, UK
| | - Chris Pepper
- Division of Cancer & Genetics, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK
| | - Duncan M Baird
- Division of Cancer & Genetics, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK
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56
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Jones RE, Grimstead JW, Sedani A, Baird D, Upadhyaya M. Telomere erosion in NF1 tumorigenesis. Oncotarget 2017; 8:40132-40139. [PMID: 28454108 PMCID: PMC5522233 DOI: 10.18632/oncotarget.16981] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/02/2016] [Accepted: 03/02/2017] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1; MIM# 162200) is a familial cancer syndrome that affects 1 in 3,500 individuals worldwide and is inherited in an autosomal dominant fashion. Malignant Peripheral Nerve Sheath Tumors (MPNSTs) represent a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in NF1 and currently there is no treatment or definite prognostic biomarkers for these tumors. Telomere shortening has been documented in numerous tumor types. Short dysfunctional telomeres are capable of fusion and it is considered that the ensuing genomic instability may facilitate clonal evolution and the progression to malignancy. To evaluate the potential role of telomere dysfunction in NF1-associated tumors, we undertook a comparative analysis of telomere length in samples derived from 10 cutaneous and 10 diffused plexiform neurofibromas, and 19 MPNSTs. Telomere length was determined using high-resolution Single Telomere Length Analysis (STELA). The mean Xp/Yp telomere length detected in MPNSTs, at 3.282 kb, was significantly shorter than that observed in both plexiform neurofibromas (5.793 kb; [p = 0.0006]) and cutaneous neurofibromas (6.141 kb; [p = 0.0007]). The telomere length distributions of MPNSTs were within the length-ranges in which telomere fusion is detected and that confer a poor prognosis in other tumor types. These data indicate that telomere length may play a role in driving genomic instability and clonal progression in NF1-associated MPNSTs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rhiannon E. Jones
- Division of Cancer and Genetics, Cardiff University, Heath Park, Cardiff, CF14 4XN, UK
| | - Julia W. Grimstead
- Division of Cancer and Genetics, Cardiff University, Heath Park, Cardiff, CF14 4XN, UK
| | - Ashni Sedani
- Division of Cancer and Genetics, Cardiff University, Heath Park, Cardiff, CF14 4XN, UK
| | - Duncan Baird
- Division of Cancer and Genetics, Cardiff University, Heath Park, Cardiff, CF14 4XN, UK
| | - Meena Upadhyaya
- Division of Cancer and Genetics, Cardiff University, Heath Park, Cardiff, CF14 4XN, UK
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57
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Ishdorj G, Kost SEF, Beiggi S, Zang Y, Gibson SB, Johnston JB. A novel spliced variant of the TIN2 shelterin is present in chronic lymphocytic leukemia. Leuk Res 2017; 59:66-74. [PMID: 28575699 DOI: 10.1016/j.leukres.2017.05.017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/07/2017] [Revised: 05/02/2017] [Accepted: 05/26/2017] [Indexed: 01/24/2023]
Abstract
The shelterin proteins play important roles in telomere maintenance and genome stability. These proteins have been found to be mutated in many cancers including CLL. Herein, we demonstrate here the presence of a novel spliced isoform of TIN2S in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), related to deletion of exon 2 in the TIN2 gene. The expressions of spliced TIN2S mRNA varied widely in CLL and there was an inverse relationship between the mRNA levels of full-length TIN2S and the spliced moiety. Small amounts of spliced TIN2S were also observed in normal B cells but not in T cells. Spliced TIN2S appeared dysfunctional, as immunoprecipitation studies showed the typical association of TRF2 and TIN2 in normal lymphocytes but not in CLL cells. Moreover, whereas TRF2 localized to the nucleus in normal lymphocytes, it was present in both nuclei and cytoplasm in CLL cells. The levels of spliced TIN2S increased with age and in 3 of 8 patients increased over time. The presence of the spliced variant failed to be related to telomere length in CLL suggesting other functions for this protein. Further studies are required to determine the etiology and biological significance of this unique spliced TIN2S variant.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ganchimeg Ishdorj
- Research Institute of Oncology and Hematology (Formerly Manitoba Institute of Cell Biology), CancerCare Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
| | - Sara E F Kost
- Research Institute of Oncology and Hematology (Formerly Manitoba Institute of Cell Biology), CancerCare Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
| | - Sara Beiggi
- Research Institute of Oncology and Hematology (Formerly Manitoba Institute of Cell Biology), CancerCare Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
| | - Yunli Zang
- Research Institute of Oncology and Hematology (Formerly Manitoba Institute of Cell Biology), CancerCare Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
| | - Spencer B Gibson
- Research Institute of Oncology and Hematology (Formerly Manitoba Institute of Cell Biology), CancerCare Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada; Department of Immunology, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
| | - James B Johnston
- Research Institute of Oncology and Hematology (Formerly Manitoba Institute of Cell Biology), CancerCare Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada; Department of Internal Medicine, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
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58
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Rice C, Shastrula PK, Kossenkov AV, Hills R, Baird DM, Showe LC, Doukov T, Janicki S, Skordalakes E. Structural and functional analysis of the human POT1-TPP1 telomeric complex. Nat Commun 2017; 8:14928. [PMID: 28393830 PMCID: PMC5394233 DOI: 10.1038/ncomms14928] [Citation(s) in RCA: 78] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/30/2016] [Accepted: 02/14/2017] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
POT1 and TPP1 are part of the shelterin complex and are essential for telomere length regulation and maintenance. Naturally occurring mutations of the telomeric POT1-TPP1 complex are implicated in familial glioma, melanoma and chronic lymphocytic leukaemia. Here we report the atomic structure of the interacting portion of the human telomeric POT1-TPP1 complex and suggest how several of these mutations contribute to malignant cancer. The POT1 C-terminus (POT1C) forms a bilobal structure consisting of an OB-fold and a holiday junction resolvase domain. TPP1 consists of several loops and helices involved in extensive interactions with POT1C. Biochemical data shows that several of the cancer-associated mutations, partially disrupt the POT1-TPP1 complex, which affects its ability to bind telomeric DNA efficiently. A defective POT1-TPP1 complex leads to longer and fragile telomeres, which in turn promotes genomic instability and cancer.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cory Rice
- The Wistar Institute, 3601 Spruce St, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, USA
- Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, USA
| | | | | | - Robert Hills
- The Wistar Institute, 3601 Spruce St, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, USA
| | - Duncan M. Baird
- Division of Cancer and Genetics, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Heath Park, Cardiff CF10 3AT, UK
| | - Louise C. Showe
- The Wistar Institute, 3601 Spruce St, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, USA
| | - Tzanko Doukov
- Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Stanford University, Menlo Park, California 94025, USA
| | - Susan Janicki
- The Wistar Institute, 3601 Spruce St, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, USA
| | - Emmanuel Skordalakes
- The Wistar Institute, 3601 Spruce St, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, USA
- Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, USA
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59
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Letsolo BT, Jones RE, Rowson J, Grimstead JW, Keith WN, Jenkins GJS, Baird DM. Extensive telomere erosion is consistent with localised clonal expansions in Barrett's metaplasia. PLoS One 2017; 12:e0174833. [PMID: 28362812 PMCID: PMC5375150 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0174833] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/12/2016] [Accepted: 03/15/2017] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Barrett's oesophagus is a premalignant metaplastic condition that predisposes patients to the development of oesophageal adenocarcinoma. However, only a minor fraction of Barrett's oesophagus patients progress to adenocarcinoma and it is thus essential to determine bio-molecular markers that can predict the progression of this condition. Telomere dysfunction is considered to drive clonal evolution in several tumour types and telomere length analysis provides clinically relevant prognostic and predictive information. The aim of this work was to use high-resolution telomere analysis to examine telomere dynamics in Barrett's oesophagus. Telomere length analysis of XpYp, 17p, 11q and 9p, chromosome arms that contain key cancer related genes that are known to be subjected to copy number changes in Barrett's metaplasia, revealed similar profiles at each chromosome end, indicating that no one specific telomere is likely to suffer preferential telomere erosion. Analysis of patient matched tissues (233 samples from 32 patients) sampled from normal squamous oesophagus, Z-line, and 2 cm intervals within Barrett's metaplasia, plus oesophago-gastric junction, gastric body and antrum, revealed extensive telomere erosion in Barrett's metaplasia to within the length ranges at which telomere fusion is detected in other tumour types. Telomere erosion was not uniform, with distinct zones displaying more extensive erosion and more homogenous telomere length profiles. These data are consistent with an extensive proliferative history of cells within Barrett's metaplasia and are indicative of localised clonal growth. The extent of telomere erosion highlights the potential of telomere dysfunction to drive genome instability and clonal evolution in Barrett's metaplasia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Boitelo T. Letsolo
- Division of Cancer & Genetics, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Heath Park, Cardiff, United Kingdom
| | - Rhiannon E. Jones
- Division of Cancer & Genetics, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Heath Park, Cardiff, United Kingdom
| | - Jan Rowson
- Division of Cancer & Genetics, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Heath Park, Cardiff, United Kingdom
| | - Julia W. Grimstead
- Division of Cancer & Genetics, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Heath Park, Cardiff, United Kingdom
| | - W. Nicol Keith
- Institute of Cancer Sciences, College of Medical, Veterinary & Life Sciences, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, United Kingdom
| | - Gareth J. S. Jenkins
- GI Cancer Group, School of Medicine, Swansea University, Swansea, United Kingdom
| | - Duncan M. Baird
- Division of Cancer & Genetics, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Heath Park, Cardiff, United Kingdom
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60
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Martínez P, Blasco MA. Telomere-driven diseases and telomere-targeting therapies. J Cell Biol 2017; 216:875-887. [PMID: 28254828 PMCID: PMC5379954 DOI: 10.1083/jcb.201610111] [Citation(s) in RCA: 171] [Impact Index Per Article: 24.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/31/2016] [Revised: 01/03/2017] [Accepted: 01/09/2017] [Indexed: 01/19/2023] Open
Abstract
Martínez and Blasco review the molecular mechanisms underlying diseases associated with telomere dysfunction, including telomeropathies, age-related disorders, and cancer. Current and future therapeutic strategies to treat and prevent these diseases, including preclinical development of telomere-targeted therapies using mouse models, are discussed. Telomeres, the protective ends of linear chromosomes, shorten throughout an individual’s lifetime. Telomere shortening is proposed to be a primary molecular cause of aging. Short telomeres block the proliferative capacity of stem cells, affecting their potential to regenerate tissues, and trigger the development of age-associated diseases. Mutations in telomere maintenance genes are associated with pathologies referred to as telomere syndromes, including Hoyeraal-Hreidarsson syndrome, dyskeratosis congenita, pulmonary fibrosis, aplastic anemia, and liver fibrosis. Telomere shortening induces chromosomal instability that, in the absence of functional tumor suppressor genes, can contribute to tumorigenesis. In addition, mutations in telomere length maintenance genes and in shelterin components, the protein complex that protects telomeres, have been found to be associated with different types of cancer. These observations have encouraged the development of therapeutic strategies to treat and prevent telomere-associated diseases, namely aging-related diseases, including cancer. Here we review the molecular mechanisms underlying telomere-driven diseases and highlight recent advances in the preclinical development of telomere-targeted therapies using mouse models.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paula Martínez
- Telomeres and Telomerase Group, Molecular Oncology Program, Spanish National Cancer Centre, Madrid E-28029, Spain
| | - Maria A Blasco
- Telomeres and Telomerase Group, Molecular Oncology Program, Spanish National Cancer Centre, Madrid E-28029, Spain
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61
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Maciejowski J, de Lange T. Telomeres in cancer: tumour suppression and genome instability. Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol 2017; 18:175-186. [PMID: 28096526 PMCID: PMC5589191 DOI: 10.1038/nrm.2016.171] [Citation(s) in RCA: 437] [Impact Index Per Article: 62.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/08/2023]
Abstract
The shortening of human telomeres has two opposing effects during cancer development. On the one hand, telomere shortening can exert a tumour-suppressive effect through the proliferation arrest induced by activating the kinases ATM and ATR at unprotected chromosome ends. On the other hand, loss of telomere protection can lead to telomere crisis, which is a state of extensive genome instability that can promote cancer progression. Recent data, reviewed here, provide new evidence for the telomere tumour suppressor pathway and has revealed that telomere crisis can induce numerous cancer-relevant changes, including chromothripsis, kataegis and tetraploidization.
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Affiliation(s)
- John Maciejowski
- Laboratory for Cell Biology and Genetics, The Rockefeller University, 1230 York Avenue, New York, New York 10065, USA
| | - Titia de Lange
- Laboratory for Cell Biology and Genetics, The Rockefeller University, 1230 York Avenue, New York, New York 10065, USA
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62
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Metaphase Cytogenetics in Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia. CURRENT GENETIC MEDICINE REPORTS 2016. [DOI: 10.1007/s40142-016-0090-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
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63
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Navrkalova V, Young E, Baliakas P, Radova L, Sutton LA, Plevova K, Mansouri L, Ljungström V, Ntoufa S, Davis Z, Juliusson G, Smedby KE, Belessi C, Panagiotidis P, Touloumenidou T, Davi F, Langerak AW, Ghia P, Strefford JC, Oscier D, Mayer J, Stamatopoulos K, Pospisilova S, Rosenquist R, Trbusek M. ATM mutations in major stereotyped subsets of chronic lymphocytic leukemia: enrichment in subset #2 is associated with markedly short telomeres. Haematologica 2016; 101:e369-73. [PMID: 27479817 DOI: 10.3324/haematol.2016.142968] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Veronika Navrkalova
- Department of Internal Medicine - Hematology and Oncology, University Hospital Brno and Faculty of Medicine, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic Department of Molecular Medicine, CEITEC - Central European Institute of Technology, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic Department of Immunology, Genetics and Pathology, Science for Life Laboratory, Uppsala University, Sweden
| | - Emma Young
- Department of Immunology, Genetics and Pathology, Science for Life Laboratory, Uppsala University, Sweden
| | - Panagiotis Baliakas
- Department of Immunology, Genetics and Pathology, Science for Life Laboratory, Uppsala University, Sweden
| | - Lenka Radova
- Department of Molecular Medicine, CEITEC - Central European Institute of Technology, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Lesley-Ann Sutton
- Department of Immunology, Genetics and Pathology, Science for Life Laboratory, Uppsala University, Sweden
| | - Karla Plevova
- Department of Internal Medicine - Hematology and Oncology, University Hospital Brno and Faculty of Medicine, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic Department of Molecular Medicine, CEITEC - Central European Institute of Technology, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Larry Mansouri
- Department of Immunology, Genetics and Pathology, Science for Life Laboratory, Uppsala University, Sweden
| | - Viktor Ljungström
- Department of Immunology, Genetics and Pathology, Science for Life Laboratory, Uppsala University, Sweden
| | | | - Zadie Davis
- Department of Molecular Pathology, Royal Bournemouth Hospital, UK
| | - Gunnar Juliusson
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, Stem Cell Center, Hematology and Transplantation, Lund University, Sweden
| | - Karin E Smedby
- Department of Medicine Solna, Clinical Epidemiology Unit, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | | | | | - Tasoula Touloumenidou
- Institute of Applied Biosciences, CERTH, Thessaloniki, Greece Hematology Department and HCT Unit, G. Papanicolaou Hospital, Thessaloniki, Greece
| | - Frederic Davi
- Laboratory of Hematology, Hospital Pitie-Salpetriere and University Pierre and Marie Curie, Paris, France
| | - Anton W Langerak
- Department of Immunology, Erasmus MC, University Medical Center Rotterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Paolo Ghia
- Division of Experimental Oncology and Department of Onco-Hematology, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy
| | | | - David Oscier
- Department of Molecular Pathology, Royal Bournemouth Hospital, UK
| | - Jiri Mayer
- Department of Internal Medicine - Hematology and Oncology, University Hospital Brno and Faculty of Medicine, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic
| | | | - Sarka Pospisilova
- Department of Internal Medicine - Hematology and Oncology, University Hospital Brno and Faculty of Medicine, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic Department of Molecular Medicine, CEITEC - Central European Institute of Technology, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Richard Rosenquist
- Department of Immunology, Genetics and Pathology, Science for Life Laboratory, Uppsala University, Sweden
| | - Martin Trbusek
- Department of Internal Medicine - Hematology and Oncology, University Hospital Brno and Faculty of Medicine, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic
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Pinzaru AM, Hom RA, Beal A, Phillips AF, Ni E, Cardozo T, Nair N, Choi J, Wuttke DS, Sfeir A, Denchi EL. Telomere Replication Stress Induced by POT1 Inactivation Accelerates Tumorigenesis. Cell Rep 2016; 15:2170-2184. [PMID: 27239034 PMCID: PMC6145145 DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2016.05.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 82] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/18/2015] [Revised: 02/19/2016] [Accepted: 04/22/2016] [Indexed: 01/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Genome sequencing studies have revealed a number of cancer-associated mutations in the telomerebinding factor POT1. Here, we show that when combined with p53 deficiency, depletion of murine POT1a in common lymphoid progenitor cells fosters genetic instability, accelerates the onset, and increases the severity of T cell lymphomas. In parallel, we examined human and mouse cells carrying POT1 mutations found in cutaneous T cell lymphoma (CTCL) patients. Inhibition of POT1 activates ATRdependent DNA damage signaling and induces telomere fragility, replication fork stalling, and telomere elongation. Our data suggest that these phenotypes are linked to impaired CST (CTC1-STN1-TEN1) function at telomeres. Lastly, we show that proliferation of cancer cells lacking POT1 is enabled by the attenuation of the ATR kinase pathway. These results uncover a role for defective telomere replication during tumorigenesis. Pinzaru et al. define a role for POT1 inactivation in the onset of thymic lymphomas. Inhibition of POT1 causes replication defects at telomeres resulting in telomere fragility, replication fork stalling, and genome instability. These results suggest a role of defective telemore replication during tumorigenesis
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexandra M Pinzaru
- Department of Cell Biology, Skirball Institute of Biomolecular Medicine, NYU School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA
| | - Robert A Hom
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309, USA
| | - Angela Beal
- Department of Molecular and Experimental Medicine, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA
| | - Aaron F Phillips
- Department of Cell Biology, Skirball Institute of Biomolecular Medicine, NYU School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA
| | - Eric Ni
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, NYU School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA
| | - Timothy Cardozo
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, NYU School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA
| | - Nidhi Nair
- Department of Molecular and Experimental Medicine, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA
| | - Jaehyuk Choi
- Departments of Dermatology and Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL 60611, USA
| | - Deborah S Wuttke
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309, USA
| | - Agnel Sfeir
- Department of Cell Biology, Skirball Institute of Biomolecular Medicine, NYU School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA.
| | - Eros Lazzerini Denchi
- Department of Molecular and Experimental Medicine, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA.
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65
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Ojha J, Codd V, Nelson CP, Samani NJ, Smirnov IV, Madsen NR, Hansen HM, de Smith AJ, Bracci PM, Wiencke JK, Wrensch MR, Wiemels JL, Walsh KM. Genetic Variation Associated with Longer Telomere Length Increases Risk of Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2016; 25:1043-9. [PMID: 27197291 DOI: 10.1158/1055-9965.epi-15-1329] [Citation(s) in RCA: 55] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/19/2016] [Accepted: 03/31/2016] [Indexed: 01/07/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is the most common leukemia in the Western world. Shorter mean telomere length in leukemic cells has been associated with more aggressive disease. Germline polymorphisms in telomere maintenance genes affect telomere length and may contribute to CLL susceptibility. METHODS We collected genome-wide data from two groups of patients with CLL (N = 273) and two control populations (N = 5,725). In ancestry-adjusted case-control comparisons, we analyzed eight SNPs in genes definitively associated with inter-individual variation in leukocyte telomere length (LTL) in prior genome-wide association studies: ACYP2, TERC, NAF1, TERT, OBFC1, CTC1, ZNF208, and RTEL1 RESULTS: Three of the eight LTL-associated SNPs were associated with CLL risk at P < 0.05, including those near: TERC [OR, 1.46; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.15-1.86; P = 1.8 × 10(-3)], TERT (OR = 1.23; 95% CI, 1.02-1.48; P = 0.030), and OBFC1 (OR, 1.36; 95% CI, 1.08-1.71; P = 9.6 × 10(-3)). Using a weighted linear combination of the eight LTL-associated SNPs, we observed that CLL patients were predisposed to longer LTL than controls in both case-control sets (P = 9.4 × 10(-4) and 0.032, respectively). CLL risk increased monotonically with increasing quintiles of the weighted linear combination. CONCLUSIONS Genetic variants in TERC, TERT, and OBFC1 are associated with both longer LTL and increased CLL risk. Because the human CST complex competes with shelterin for telomeric DNA, future work should explore the role of OBFC1 and other CST complex genes in leukemogenesis. IMPACT A genetic predisposition to longer telomere length is associated with an increased risk of CLL, suggesting that the role of telomere length in CLL etiology may be distinct from its role in disease progression. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev; 25(7); 1043-9. ©2016 AACR.
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Affiliation(s)
- Juhi Ojha
- Division of Neuroepidemiology, Department of Neurological Surgery, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California. Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California
| | - Veryan Codd
- Department of Cardiovascular Sciences, University of Leicester, Leicester, United Kingdom. National Institute for Health Research Leicester Cardiovascular Biomedical Research Unit, Glenfield Hospital, Leicester, United Kingdom
| | - Christopher P Nelson
- Department of Cardiovascular Sciences, University of Leicester, Leicester, United Kingdom. National Institute for Health Research Leicester Cardiovascular Biomedical Research Unit, Glenfield Hospital, Leicester, United Kingdom
| | - Nilesh J Samani
- Department of Cardiovascular Sciences, University of Leicester, Leicester, United Kingdom. National Institute for Health Research Leicester Cardiovascular Biomedical Research Unit, Glenfield Hospital, Leicester, United Kingdom
| | - Ivan V Smirnov
- Department of Neurological Surgery, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California
| | - Nils R Madsen
- Division of Neuroepidemiology, Department of Neurological Surgery, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California
| | - Helen M Hansen
- Division of Neuroepidemiology, Department of Neurological Surgery, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California
| | - Adam J de Smith
- Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California
| | - Paige M Bracci
- Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California
| | - John K Wiencke
- Division of Neuroepidemiology, Department of Neurological Surgery, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California. Institute for Human Genetics, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California
| | - Margaret R Wrensch
- Division of Neuroepidemiology, Department of Neurological Surgery, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California. Institute for Human Genetics, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California
| | - Joseph L Wiemels
- Division of Neuroepidemiology, Department of Neurological Surgery, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California. Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California. Institute for Human Genetics, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California
| | - Kyle M Walsh
- Division of Neuroepidemiology, Department of Neurological Surgery, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California. Program in Neurologic Oncology, Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California.
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66
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Stop pulling my strings - what telomeres taught us about the DNA damage response. Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol 2016; 17:364-78. [PMID: 27165790 DOI: 10.1038/nrm.2016.43] [Citation(s) in RCA: 123] [Impact Index Per Article: 15.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
Mammalian cells have evolved specialized mechanisms to sense and repair double-strand breaks (DSBs) to maintain genomic stability. However, in certain cases, the activity of these pathways can lead to aberrant DNA repair, genomic instability and tumorigenesis. One such case is DNA repair at the natural ends of linear chromosomes, known as telomeres, which can lead to chromosome-end fusions. Here, we review data obtained over the past decade and discuss the mechanisms that protect mammalian chromosome ends from the DNA damage response. We also discuss how telomere research has helped to uncover key steps in DSB repair. Last, we summarize how dysfunctional telomeres and the ensuing genomic instability drive the progression of cancer.
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67
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Jones M, Bisht K, Savage SA, Nandakumar J, Keegan CE, Maillard I. The shelterin complex and hematopoiesis. J Clin Invest 2016; 126:1621-9. [PMID: 27135879 DOI: 10.1172/jci84547] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/15/2023] Open
Abstract
Mammalian chromosomes terminate in stretches of repetitive telomeric DNA that act as buffers to avoid loss of essential genetic information during end-replication. A multiprotein complex known as shelterin prevents recognition of telomeric sequences as sites of DNA damage. Telomere erosion contributes to human diseases ranging from BM failure to premature aging syndromes and cancer. The role of shelterin telomere protection is less understood. Mutations in genes encoding the shelterin proteins TRF1-interacting nuclear factor 2 (TIN2) and adrenocortical dysplasia homolog (ACD) were identified in dyskeratosis congenita, a syndrome characterized by somatic stem cell dysfunction in multiple organs leading to BM failure and other pleiotropic manifestations. Here, we introduce the biochemical features and in vivo effects of individual shelterin proteins, discuss shelterin functions in hematopoiesis, and review emerging knowledge implicating the shelterin complex in hematological disorders.
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68
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Maciejowski J, Li Y, Bosco N, Campbell PJ, de Lange T. Chromothripsis and Kataegis Induced by Telomere Crisis. Cell 2016; 163:1641-54. [PMID: 26687355 DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2015.11.054] [Citation(s) in RCA: 462] [Impact Index Per Article: 57.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/18/2015] [Revised: 11/03/2015] [Accepted: 11/20/2015] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Telomere crisis occurs during tumorigenesis when depletion of the telomere reserve leads to frequent telomere fusions. The resulting dicentric chromosomes have been proposed to drive genome instability. Here, we examine the fate of dicentric human chromosomes in telomere crisis. We observed that dicentric chromosomes invariably persisted through mitosis and developed into 50-200 μm chromatin bridges connecting the daughter cells. Before their resolution at 3-20 hr after anaphase, the chromatin bridges induced nuclear envelope rupture in interphase, accumulated the cytoplasmic 3' nuclease TREX1, and developed RPA-coated single stranded (ss) DNA. CRISPR knockouts showed that TREX1 contributed to the generation of the ssDNA and the resolution of the chromatin bridges. Post-crisis clones showed chromothripsis and kataegis, presumably resulting from DNA repair and APOBEC editing of the fragmented chromatin bridge DNA. We propose that chromothripsis in human cancer may arise through TREX1-mediated fragmentation of dicentric chromosomes formed in telomere crisis.
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Affiliation(s)
- John Maciejowski
- Laboratory for Cell Biology and Genetics, The Rockefeller University, 1230 York Avenue, New York, NY 10065, USA
| | - Yilong Li
- Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Wellcome Trust Genome Campus, Hinxton Cambridge, CB10 1SA, UK
| | - Nazario Bosco
- Laboratory for Cell Biology and Genetics, The Rockefeller University, 1230 York Avenue, New York, NY 10065, USA
| | - Peter J Campbell
- Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Wellcome Trust Genome Campus, Hinxton Cambridge, CB10 1SA, UK.
| | - Titia de Lange
- Laboratory for Cell Biology and Genetics, The Rockefeller University, 1230 York Avenue, New York, NY 10065, USA.
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69
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Machiela MJ, Lan Q, Slager SL, Vermeulen RCH, Teras LR, Camp NJ, Cerhan JR, Spinelli JJ, Wang SS, Nieters A, Vijai J, Yeager M, Wang Z, Ghesquières H, McKay J, Conde L, de Bakker PIW, Cox DG, Burdett L, Monnereau A, Flowers CR, De Roos AJ, Brooks-Wilson AR, Giles GG, Melbye M, Gu J, Jackson RD, Kane E, Purdue MP, Vajdic CM, Albanes D, Kelly RS, Zucca M, Bertrand KA, Zeleniuch-Jacquotte A, Lawrence C, Hutchinson A, Zhi D, Habermann TM, Link BK, Novak AJ, Dogan A, Asmann YW, Liebow M, Thompson CA, Ansell SM, Witzig TE, Tilly H, Haioun C, Molina TJ, Hjalgrim H, Glimelius B, Adami HO, Roos G, Bracci PM, Riby J, Smith MT, Holly EA, Cozen W, Hartge P, Morton LM, Severson RK, Tinker LF, North KE, Becker N, Benavente Y, Boffetta P, Brennan P, Foretova L, Maynadie M, Staines A, Lightfoot T, Crouch S, Smith A, Roman E, Diver WR, Offit K, Zelenetz A, Klein RJ, Villano DJ, Zheng T, Zhang Y, Holford TR, Turner J, Southey MC, Clavel J, Virtamo J, Weinstein S, Riboli E, Vineis P, Kaaks R, Boeing H, Tjønneland A, Angelucci E, Di Lollo S, Rais M, De Vivo I, Giovannucci E, Kraft P, Huang J, Ma B, Ye Y, Chiu BCH, Liang L, Park JH, Chung CC, Weisenburger DD, Fraumeni JF, Salles G, Glenn M, Cannon-Albright L, Curtin K, Wu X, Smedby KE, de Sanjose S, Skibola CF, Berndt SI, Birmann BM, Chanock SJ, Rothman N. Genetically predicted longer telomere length is associated with increased risk of B-cell lymphoma subtypes. Hum Mol Genet 2016; 25:1663-76. [PMID: 27008888 PMCID: PMC4854019 DOI: 10.1093/hmg/ddw027] [Citation(s) in RCA: 47] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/16/2015] [Revised: 01/06/2016] [Accepted: 01/27/2016] [Indexed: 01/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Evidence from a small number of studies suggests that longer telomere length measured in peripheral leukocytes is associated with an increased risk of non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL). However, these studies may be biased by reverse causation, confounded by unmeasured environmental exposures and might miss time points for which prospective telomere measurement would best reveal a relationship between telomere length and NHL risk. We performed an analysis of genetically inferred telomere length and NHL risk in a study of 10 102 NHL cases of the four most common B-cell histologic types and 9562 controls using a genetic risk score (GRS) comprising nine telomere length-associated single-nucleotide polymorphisms. This approach uses existing genotype data and estimates telomere length by weighing the number of telomere length-associated variant alleles an individual carries with the published change in kb of telomere length. The analysis of the telomere length GRS resulted in an association between longer telomere length and increased NHL risk [four B-cell histologic types combined; odds ratio (OR) = 1.49, 95% CI 1.22-1.82,P-value = 8.5 × 10(-5)]. Subtype-specific analyses indicated that chronic lymphocytic leukemia or small lymphocytic lymphoma (CLL/SLL) was the principal NHL subtype contributing to this association (OR = 2.60, 95% CI 1.93-3.51,P-value = 4.0 × 10(-10)). Significant interactions were observed across strata of sex for CLL/SLL and marginal zone lymphoma subtypes as well as age for the follicular lymphoma subtype. Our results indicate that a genetic background that favors longer telomere length may increase NHL risk, particularly risk of CLL/SLL, and are consistent with earlier studies relating longer telomere length with increased NHL risk.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mitchell J Machiela
- Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, USA,
| | - Qing Lan
- Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | | | - Roel C H Vermeulen
- Institute for Risk Assessment Sciences, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands, Julius Center for Health Sciences and Primary Care and
| | - Lauren R Teras
- Epidemiology Research Program, American Cancer Society, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Nicola J Camp
- Department of Internal Medicine, University of Utah School of Medicine, Salt Lake City, UT, USA
| | | | - John J Spinelli
- Cancer Control Research and School of Population and Public Health, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | - Sophia S Wang
- Division of Cancer Etiology, City of Hope Beckman Research Institute, Duarte, CA, USA
| | - Alexandra Nieters
- Center for Chronic Immunodeficiency, University Medical Center Freiburg, Freiburg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany
| | | | - Meredith Yeager
- Cancer Genomics Research Laboratory, Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, Gaithersburg, MD, USA
| | - Zhaoming Wang
- Cancer Genomics Research Laboratory, Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, Gaithersburg, MD, USA
| | - Hervé Ghesquières
- Department of Hematology and Laboratoire de Biologie Moléculaire de la Cellule UMR 5239, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Pierre benite Cedex, France
| | - James McKay
- International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), Lyon, France
| | - Lucia Conde
- Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health and Comprehensive Cancer Center and Division of Environmental Health Sciences, University of California Berkeley School of Public Health, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - Paul I W de Bakker
- Julius Center for Health Sciences and Primary Care and Department of Medical Genetics and of Epidemiology, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - David G Cox
- INSERM U1052, Cancer Research Center of Lyon, Centre Léon Bérard, Lyon, France
| | - Laurie Burdett
- Cancer Genomics Research Laboratory, Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, Gaithersburg, MD, USA
| | - Alain Monnereau
- Epidemiology of Childhood and Adolescent Cancers Group, INSERM, Center of Research in Epidemiology and Statistics Sorbonne Paris Cité (CRESS), Paris, France, Université Paris Descartes, Paris, France, Registre des hémopathies malignes de la Gironde, Institut Bergonié, Bordeaux Cedex, France
| | | | - Anneclaire J De Roos
- Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, Drexel University School of Public Health, Philadelphia, PA, USA, Division of Public Health Sciences, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Angela R Brooks-Wilson
- Genome Sciences Centre, BC Cancer Agency, Vancouver, BC, Canada, Department of Biomedical Physiology and Kinesiology, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, Canada
| | - Graham G Giles
- Cancer Epidemiology Centre, Cancer Council Victoria, Melbourne, VIC, Australia, Centre for Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health and
| | - Mads Melbye
- Department of Epidemiology Research, Division of Health Surveillance and Research, Statens Serum Institut, Copenhagen, Denmark, Department of Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Jian Gu
- Department of Epidemiology, MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Rebecca D Jackson
- Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA
| | - Eleanor Kane
- Department of Health Sciences, University of York, York, UK
| | | | - Claire M Vajdic
- Centre for Big Data Research in Health, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Demetrius Albanes
- Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Rachel S Kelly
- Department of Epidemiology, MRC-PHE Centre for Environment and Health, School of Public Health and
| | | | - Kimberly A Bertrand
- Department of Epidemiology, Channing Division of Network Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Anne Zeleniuch-Jacquotte
- Department of Population Health and Department of Environmental Medicine, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA, Perlmutter Cancer Center, NYU Langone Medical Center, New York, NY, USA
| | | | - Amy Hutchinson
- Cancer Genomics Research Laboratory, Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, Gaithersburg, MD, USA
| | - Degui Zhi
- Department of Biostatistics, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA
| | | | - Brian K Link
- Department of Internal Medicine, Carver College of Medicine, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA
| | | | - Ahmet Dogan
- Departments of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, USA
| | - Yan W Asmann
- Division of Biomedical Statistics and Informatics, Department of Health Sciences Research, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA
| | | | | | | | | | - Hervé Tilly
- Centre Heni Becquerel, Université de Rouen, Rouen, France
| | - Corinne Haioun
- Lymphoid Malignancies Unit, Henri Mondor Hospital and University Paris Est, Créteil, France
| | - Thierry J Molina
- Department of Pathology, AP-HP, Necker Enfants malades, Université Paris Descartes, Sorbonne Paris Cité, France
| | - Henrik Hjalgrim
- Department of Epidemiology Research, Division of Health Surveillance and Research, Statens Serum Institut, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Bengt Glimelius
- Department of Immunology, Genetics and Pathology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Hans-Olov Adami
- Department of Epidemiology, Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Göran Roos
- Department of Medical Biosciences, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden
| | - Paige M Bracci
- Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Jacques Riby
- Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health and Comprehensive Cancer Center and Division of Environmental Health Sciences, University of California Berkeley School of Public Health, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - Martyn T Smith
- Division of Environmental Health Sciences, University of California Berkeley School of Public Health, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - Elizabeth A Holly
- Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Wendy Cozen
- Department of Preventive Medicine and Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, USC Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Patricia Hartge
- Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Lindsay M Morton
- Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Richard K Severson
- Department of Family Medicine and Public Health Sciences, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, USA
| | - Lesley F Tinker
- Division of Public Health Sciences, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Kari E North
- Department of Epidemiology and Carolina Center for Genome Sciences, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Nikolaus Becker
- Division of Cancer Epidemiology, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany
| | - Yolanda Benavente
- Cancer Epidemiology Research Programme, Catalan Institute of Oncology-IDIBELL, L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain, CIBER de Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Barcelona, Spain
| | | | - Paul Brennan
- International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), Lyon, France
| | - Lenka Foretova
- Department of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, Masaryk Memorial Cancer Institute and MF MU, Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Marc Maynadie
- EA 4184, Registre des Hémopathies Malignes de Côte d'Or, University of Burgundy and Dijon University Hospital, Dijon, France
| | - Anthony Staines
- School of Nursing and Human Sciences, Dublin City University, Dublin, Ireland
| | | | - Simon Crouch
- Department of Health Sciences, University of York, York, UK
| | - Alex Smith
- Department of Health Sciences, University of York, York, UK
| | - Eve Roman
- Department of Health Sciences, University of York, York, UK
| | - W Ryan Diver
- Epidemiology Research Program, American Cancer Society, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | | | | | - Robert J Klein
- Icahn Institute for Genomics and Multiscale Biology, Department of Genetics and Genomic Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
| | | | | | - Yawei Zhang
- Department of Environmental Health Sciences and
| | - Theodore R Holford
- Department of Biostatistics, Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Jenny Turner
- Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, Australia, Department of Histopathology, Douglass Hanly Moir Pathology, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Melissa C Southey
- Genetic Epidemiology Laboratory, Department of Pathology, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
| | - Jacqueline Clavel
- Epidemiology of Childhood and Adolescent Cancers Group, INSERM, Center of Research in Epidemiology and Statistics Sorbonne Paris Cité (CRESS), Paris, France, Université Paris Descartes, Paris, France
| | - Jarmo Virtamo
- Chronic Disease Prevention Unit, National Institute for Health and Welfare, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Stephanie Weinstein
- Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Elio Riboli
- School of Public Health, Imperial College London, London, UK
| | - Paolo Vineis
- MRC-PHE Centre for Environment and Health, School of Public Health and Human Genetics Foundation, Turin, Italy
| | - Rudolph Kaaks
- Division of Cancer Epidemiology, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany
| | - Heiner Boeing
- Department of Epidemiology, German Institute for Human Nutrition, Potsdam, Germany
| | | | - Emanuele Angelucci
- Hematology Unit, Ospedale Oncologico di Riferimento Regionale A. Businco, Cagliari, Italy
| | - Simonetta Di Lollo
- Department of Surgery and Translational Medicine, Section of Anatomo-Pathology, University of Florence, Florence, Italy
| | - Marco Rais
- Department of Public Health, Clinical and Molecular Medicine, University of Cagliari, Monserrato, Cagliari, Italy
| | - Immaculata De Vivo
- Department of Epidemiology, Channing Division of Network Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Edward Giovannucci
- Department of Epidemiology, Channing Division of Network Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA, Department of Nutrition and
| | - Peter Kraft
- Department of Epidemiology, Department of Biostatistics, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
| | | | - Baoshan Ma
- Department of Epidemiology, College of Information Science and Technology, Dalian Maritime University, Dalian, Liaoning Province, China
| | - Yuanqing Ye
- Department of Epidemiology, MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Brian C H Chiu
- Department of Health Studies, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Liming Liang
- Department of Epidemiology, Department of Biostatistics, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Ju-Hyun Park
- Department of Statistics, Dongguk University, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | - Charles C Chung
- Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | | | - Joseph F Fraumeni
- Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Gilles Salles
- Laboratoire de Biologie Moléculaire de la Cellule UMR 5239, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Pierre benite Cedex, France, Department of Hematology, Hospices Civils de Lyon, Pierre benite Cedex, France, Department of Hematology, Université Lyon-1, Pierre benite Cedex, France and
| | - Martha Glenn
- Department of Internal Medicine, University of Utah School of Medicine, Salt Lake City, UT, USA
| | - Lisa Cannon-Albright
- Department of Internal Medicine, University of Utah School of Medicine, Salt Lake City, UT, USA
| | - Karen Curtin
- Department of Internal Medicine, University of Utah School of Medicine, Salt Lake City, UT, USA
| | - Xifeng Wu
- Department of Epidemiology, MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Karin E Smedby
- Department of Medicine, Solna, Karolinska Institutet, Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Silvia de Sanjose
- Cancer Epidemiology Research Programme, Catalan Institute of Oncology-IDIBELL, L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain, CIBER de Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Barcelona, Spain
| | - Christine F Skibola
- Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health and Comprehensive Cancer Center and Division of Environmental Health Sciences, University of California Berkeley School of Public Health, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - Sonja I Berndt
- Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Brenda M Birmann
- Channing Division of Network Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Stephen J Chanock
- Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Nathaniel Rothman
- Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, USA
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70
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Medves S, Auchter M, Chambeau L, Gazzo S, Poncet D, Grangier B, Verney A, Moussay E, Ammerlaan W, Brisou G, Morjani H, Géli V, Palissot V, Berchem G, Salles G, Wenner T. A high rate of telomeric sister chromatid exchange occurs in chronic lymphocytic leukaemia B-cells. Br J Haematol 2016; 174:57-70. [PMID: 26970083 DOI: 10.1111/bjh.13995] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/12/2015] [Accepted: 12/25/2015] [Indexed: 01/30/2023]
Abstract
Cancer cells protect their telomere ends from erosion through reactivation of telomerase or by using the Alternative Lengthening of Telomere (ALT) mechanism that depends on homologous recombination. Chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) B cells are characterized by almost no telomerase activity, shelterin deregulation and telomere fusions. To characterize telomeric maintenance mechanisms in B-CLL patients, we measured their telomere length, telomerase expression and the main hallmarks of the ALT activity i.e. C-circle concentration, an extra-chromosomal telomere repeat (ECTR), and the level of telomeric sister chromatid exchange (T-SCE) rate. Patients showed relative homogenous telomere length although almost no TERT transcript and nearly no C-circle were evidenced. Nevertheless, compared with normal B cells, B-CLL cells showed an increase in T-SCE rate that was correlated with a strong down-regulation of the topoisomerase III alpha (TOP3A) expression, involved in the dissolution of Holliday Junctions (HJ), together with an increased expression of SLX1A, SLX4, MUS81 and GEN1, involved in the resolution of HJ. Altogether, our results suggest that the telomere maintenance mechanism of B-CLL cells do not preferentially use telomerase or ALT. Rather, the rupture of the dissolvasome/resolvasome balance may increase telomere shuffling that could homogenize telomere length, slowing telomere erosion in this disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sandrine Medves
- Laboratory of Experimental Cancer Research, LIH, Luxembourg, Luxembourg
| | - Morgan Auchter
- Cancer Research Centre Marseille CRCM, U1068 Inserm, UMR7258 CNRS, Aix-Marseille University, Institut Paoli-Calmettes, Ligue Nationale contre le Cancer équipe labellisée, Marseille, France
| | - Laetitia Chambeau
- Laboratory of Experimental Cancer Research, LIH, Luxembourg, Luxembourg
| | - Sophie Gazzo
- Equipe Proliférations B Indolentes, Faculté de Médecine Lyon Sud, UMR CNRS 5239, Oullins Cedex, France
| | - Delphine Poncet
- Biochemistry Department, Transfer and Molecular Oncology Unit, Lyon Sud Hospital, Hospices Civils de Lyon, Lyon, France.,Faculté de Médecine, UCBL Lyon 1, Oullins cedex 12, France
| | - Blandine Grangier
- Biochemistry Department, Transfer and Molecular Oncology Unit, Lyon Sud Hospital, Hospices Civils de Lyon, Lyon, France.,Faculté de Médecine, UCBL Lyon 1, Oullins cedex 12, France
| | - Aurélie Verney
- Equipe Proliférations B Indolentes, Faculté de Médecine Lyon Sud, UMR CNRS 5239, Oullins Cedex, France
| | - Etienne Moussay
- Laboratory of Experimental Cancer Research, LIH, Luxembourg, Luxembourg
| | - Wim Ammerlaan
- Core Facility Flow Cytometry, Centre de Recherche Public de la Santé (CRP-Santé), Luxembourg, Luxembourg
| | - Gabriel Brisou
- Equipe Proliférations B Indolentes, Faculté de Médecine Lyon Sud, UMR CNRS 5239, Oullins Cedex, France
| | - Hamid Morjani
- MEDyC, Unité CNRS UMR7369, UFR de Pharmacie, Reims, France
| | - Vincent Géli
- Cancer Research Centre Marseille CRCM, U1068 Inserm, UMR7258 CNRS, Aix-Marseille University, Institut Paoli-Calmettes, Ligue Nationale contre le Cancer équipe labellisée, Marseille, France
| | - Valérie Palissot
- Laboratory of Experimental Cancer Research, LIH, Luxembourg, Luxembourg
| | - Guy Berchem
- Laboratory of Experimental Cancer Research, LIH, Luxembourg, Luxembourg
| | - Gilles Salles
- Equipe Proliférations B Indolentes, Faculté de Médecine Lyon Sud, UMR CNRS 5239, Oullins Cedex, France
| | - Thomas Wenner
- Laboratory of Experimental Cancer Research, LIH, Luxembourg, Luxembourg.,Equipe Proliférations B Indolentes, Faculté de Médecine Lyon Sud, UMR CNRS 5239, Oullins Cedex, France
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71
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Complex interactions between the DNA-damage response and mammalian telomeres. Nat Struct Mol Biol 2016; 22:859-66. [PMID: 26581520 DOI: 10.1038/nsmb.3092] [Citation(s) in RCA: 141] [Impact Index Per Article: 17.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/05/2015] [Accepted: 08/23/2015] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
Abstract
Natural chromosome ends resemble double-stranded DNA breaks, but they do not activate a damage response in healthy cells. Telomeres therefore have evolved to solve the 'end-protection problem' by inhibiting multiple DNA damage-response pathways. During the past decade, the view of telomeres has progressed from simple caps that hide chromosome ends to complex machineries that have an active role in organizing the genome. Here we focus on mammalian telomeres and summarize and interpret recent discoveries in detail, focusing on how repair pathways are inhibited, how resection and replication are controlled and how these mechanisms govern cell fate during senescence, crisis and transformation.
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72
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Elevated levels of TRF2 induce telomeric ultrafine anaphase bridges and rapid telomere deletions. Nat Commun 2015; 6:10132. [PMID: 26640040 PMCID: PMC4686832 DOI: 10.1038/ncomms10132] [Citation(s) in RCA: 57] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/03/2015] [Accepted: 11/05/2015] [Indexed: 01/23/2023] Open
Abstract
The shelterin protein TRF2 is essential for chromosome-end protection. Depletion of TRF2 causes chromosome end-to-end fusions, initiating genomic instability that can be cancer promoting. Paradoxically, significant increased levels of TRF2 are observed in a subset of human cancers. Experimental overexpression of TRF2 has also been shown to induce telomere shortening, through an unknown mechanism. Here we report that TRF2 overexpression results in replication stalling in duplex telomeric repeat tracts and the subsequent formation of telomeric ultrafine anaphase bridges (UFBs), ultimately leading to stochastic loss of telomeric sequences. These TRF2 overexpression-induced telomere deletions generate chromosome fusions resembling those detected in human cancers and in mammalian cells containing critically shortened telomeres. Therefore, our findings have uncovered a second pathway by which altered TRF2 protein levels can induce end-to-end fusions. The observations also provide mechanistic insight into the molecular basis of genomic instability in tumour cells containing significantly increased TRF2 levels.
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73
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Sellmann L, Scholtysik R, de Beer D, Eisele L, Klein-Hitpass L, Nückel H, Dührsen U, Dürig J, Röth A, Baerlocher GM. Shorter telomeres correlate with an increase in the number of uniparental disomies in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia. Leuk Lymphoma 2015; 57:590-5. [DOI: 10.3109/10428194.2015.1076929] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Ludger Sellmann
- Department of Haematology, Medical Faculty, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany,
- Institute of Cell Biology (Cancer Research), Medical Faculty, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany,
| | - Rene Scholtysik
- Institute of Cell Biology (Cancer Research), Medical Faculty, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany,
| | - Dirk de Beer
- Experimental Haematology, Department of Clinical Research, University Bern, Switzerland, and
| | - Lewin Eisele
- Department of Haematology, Medical Faculty, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany,
| | - Ludger Klein-Hitpass
- Institute of Cell Biology (Cancer Research), Medical Faculty, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany,
| | - Holger Nückel
- Department of Haematology, Medical Faculty, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany,
| | - Ulrich Dührsen
- Department of Haematology, Medical Faculty, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany,
| | - Jan Dürig
- Department of Haematology, Medical Faculty, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany,
| | - Alexander Röth
- Department of Haematology, Medical Faculty, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany,
| | - Gabriela M. Baerlocher
- Experimental Haematology, Department of Clinical Research, University Bern, Switzerland, and
- Department of Haematology, University Hospital, Bern, Switzerland
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74
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Microhomology-Mediated End Joining: A Back-up Survival Mechanism or Dedicated Pathway? Trends Biochem Sci 2015; 40:701-714. [PMID: 26439531 DOI: 10.1016/j.tibs.2015.08.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 401] [Impact Index Per Article: 44.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/07/2015] [Revised: 08/13/2015] [Accepted: 08/18/2015] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) disrupt the continuity of chromosomes and their repair by error-free mechanisms is essential to preserve genome integrity. Microhomology-mediated end joining (MMEJ) is an error-prone repair mechanism that involves alignment of microhomologous sequences internal to the broken ends before joining, and is associated with deletions and insertions that mark the original break site, as well as chromosome translocations. Whether MMEJ has a physiological role or is simply a back-up repair mechanism is a matter of debate. Here we review recent findings pertaining to the mechanism of MMEJ and discuss its role in normal and cancer cells.
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75
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Strefford JC, Kadalayil L, Forster J, Rose-Zerilli MJJ, Parker A, Lin TT, Heppel N, Norris K, Gardiner A, Davies Z, Gonzalez de Castro D, Else M, Steele AJ, Parker H, Stankovic T, Pepper C, Fegan C, Baird D, Collins A, Catovsky D, Oscier DG. Telomere length predicts progression and overall survival in chronic lymphocytic leukemia: data from the UK LRF CLL4 trial. Leukemia 2015; 29:2411-4. [PMID: 26256637 PMCID: PMC4676082 DOI: 10.1038/leu.2015.217] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- J C Strefford
- Cancer Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK
| | - L Kadalayil
- Genetic Epidemiology and Bioinformatics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK
| | - J Forster
- Cancer Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK
| | - M J J Rose-Zerilli
- Cancer Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK
| | - A Parker
- Department of Pathology, Royal Bournemouth Hospital, Bournemouth, UK
| | - T T Lin
- CLL Research Group, Institute of Cancer & Genetics, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK
| | - N Heppel
- CLL Research Group, Institute of Cancer & Genetics, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK
| | - K Norris
- CLL Research Group, Institute of Cancer & Genetics, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK
| | - A Gardiner
- Department of Pathology, Royal Bournemouth Hospital, Bournemouth, UK
| | - Z Davies
- Department of Pathology, Royal Bournemouth Hospital, Bournemouth, UK
| | - D Gonzalez de Castro
- Haemato-oncology Research Unit, Division of Molecular Pathology, The Institute of Cancer Research, London, UK
| | - M Else
- Haemato-oncology Research Unit, Division of Molecular Pathology, The Institute of Cancer Research, London, UK
| | - A J Steele
- Cancer Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK
| | - H Parker
- Cancer Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK
| | - T Stankovic
- Division of Cancer Sciences, School of Medicine, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK
| | - C Pepper
- CLL Research Group, Institute of Cancer & Genetics, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK
| | - C Fegan
- CLL Research Group, Institute of Cancer & Genetics, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK
| | - D Baird
- CLL Research Group, Institute of Cancer & Genetics, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK
| | - A Collins
- Genetic Epidemiology and Bioinformatics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK
| | - D Catovsky
- Haemato-oncology Research Unit, Division of Molecular Pathology, The Institute of Cancer Research, London, UK
| | - D G Oscier
- Cancer Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK.,Department of Pathology, Royal Bournemouth Hospital, Bournemouth, UK
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76
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Lindqvist D, Epel ES, Mellon SH, Penninx BW, Révész D, Verhoeven JE, Reus VI, Lin J, Mahan L, Hough CM, Rosser R, Bersani FS, Blackburn EH, Wolkowitz OM. Psychiatric disorders and leukocyte telomere length: Underlying mechanisms linking mental illness with cellular aging. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2015; 55:333-64. [PMID: 25999120 PMCID: PMC4501875 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2015.05.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 220] [Impact Index Per Article: 24.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/11/2015] [Revised: 05/06/2015] [Accepted: 05/10/2015] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
Abstract
Many psychiatric illnesses are associated with early mortality and with an increased risk of developing physical diseases that are more typically seen in the elderly. Moreover, certain psychiatric illnesses may be associated with accelerated cellular aging, evidenced by shortened leukocyte telomere length (LTL), which could underlie this association. Shortened LTL reflects a cell's mitotic history and cumulative exposure to inflammation and oxidation as well as the availability of telomerase, a telomere-lengthening enzyme. Critically short telomeres can cause cells to undergo senescence, apoptosis or genomic instability, and shorter LTL correlates with poorer health and predicts mortality. Emerging data suggest that LTL may be reduced in certain psychiatric illnesses, perhaps in proportion to exposure to the psychiatric illnesses, although conflicting data exist. Telomerase has been less well characterized in psychiatric illnesses, but a role in depression and in antidepressant and neurotrophic effects has been suggested by preclinical and clinical studies. In this article, studies on LTL and telomerase activity in psychiatric illnesses are critically reviewed, potential mediators are discussed, and future directions are suggested. A deeper understanding of cellular aging in psychiatric illnesses could lead to re-conceptualizing them as systemic illnesses with manifestations inside and outside the brain and could identify new treatment targets.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel Lindqvist
- Department of Clinical Sciences, Section for Psychiatry, Lund University, Lund, Sweden; Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Francisco (UCSF), School of Medicine, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Elissa S Epel
- Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Francisco (UCSF), School of Medicine, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Synthia H Mellon
- Department of OB-GYN and Reproductive Sciences, UCSF School of Medicine, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Brenda W Penninx
- Department of Psychiatry and EMGO Institute for Health and Care Research, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Dóra Révész
- Department of Psychiatry and EMGO Institute for Health and Care Research, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Josine E Verhoeven
- Department of Psychiatry and EMGO Institute for Health and Care Research, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Victor I Reus
- Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Francisco (UCSF), School of Medicine, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Jue Lin
- Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, UCSF School of Medicine, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Laura Mahan
- Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Francisco (UCSF), School of Medicine, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Christina M Hough
- Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Francisco (UCSF), School of Medicine, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Rebecca Rosser
- Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Francisco (UCSF), School of Medicine, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - F Saverio Bersani
- Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Francisco (UCSF), School of Medicine, San Francisco, CA, USA; Department of Neurology and Psychiatry, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
| | - Elizabeth H Blackburn
- Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, UCSF School of Medicine, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Owen M Wolkowitz
- Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Francisco (UCSF), School of Medicine, San Francisco, CA, USA.
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77
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Telomere shortening associated with increased genomic complexity in chronic lymphocytic leukemia. Tumour Biol 2015; 36:8317-24. [DOI: 10.1007/s13277-015-3556-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/09/2015] [Accepted: 05/11/2015] [Indexed: 01/08/2023] Open
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78
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Tu L, Huda N, Grimes BR, Slee RB, Bates AM, Cheng L, Gilley D. Widespread telomere instability in prostatic lesions. Mol Carcinog 2015; 55:842-52. [PMID: 25917938 DOI: 10.1002/mc.22326] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/10/2014] [Revised: 02/13/2015] [Accepted: 03/26/2015] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
A critical function of the telomere is to disguise chromosome ends from cellular recognition as double strand breaks, thereby preventing aberrant chromosome fusion events. Such chromosome end-to-end fusions are known to initiate genomic instability via breakage-fusion-bridge cycles. Telomere dysfunction and other forms of genomic assault likely result in misregulation of genes involved in growth control, cell death, and senescence pathways, lowering the threshold to malignancy and likely drive disease progression. Shortened telomeres and anaphase bridges have been reported in a wide variety of early precursor and malignant cancer lesions including those of the prostate. These findings are being extended using methods for the analysis of telomere fusions (decisive genetic markers for telomere dysfunction) specifically within human tissue DNA. Here we report that benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), high-grade prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia (PIN), and prostate cancer (PCa) prostate lesions all contain similarly high frequencies of telomere fusions and anaphase bridges. Tumor-adjacent, histologically normal prostate tissue generally did not contain telomere fusions or anaphase bridges as compared to matched PCa tissues. However, we found relatively high levels of telomerase activity in this histologically normal tumor-adjacent tissue that was reduced but closely correlated with telomerase levels in corresponding PCa samples. Thus, we present evidence of high levels of telomere dysfunction in BPH, an established early precursor (PIN) and prostate cancer lesions but not generally in tumor adjacent normal tissue. Our results suggest that telomere dysfunction may be a common gateway event leading to genomic instability in prostate tumorigenesis. .
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Affiliation(s)
- LiRen Tu
- Department of Medical and Molecular Genetics, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, Indiana
| | - Nazmul Huda
- Department of Medical and Molecular Genetics, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, Indiana
| | - Brenda R Grimes
- Department of Medical and Molecular Genetics, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, Indiana
| | - Roger B Slee
- Department of Medical and Molecular Genetics, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, Indiana
| | - Alison M Bates
- Department of Medical and Molecular Genetics, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, Indiana
| | - Liang Cheng
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, Indiana
| | - David Gilley
- Department of Medical and Molecular Genetics, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, Indiana
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79
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Jovanovic K, Chetty CJ, Khumalo T, Da Costa Dias B, Ferreira E, Malindisa ST, Caveney R, Letsolo BT, Weiss SFT. Novel patented therapeutic approaches targeting the 37/67 kDa laminin receptor for treatment of cancer and Alzheimer's disease. Expert Opin Ther Pat 2015; 25:567-82. [PMID: 25747044 DOI: 10.1517/13543776.2015.1014802] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION The 37/67 kDa high-affinity laminin receptor (laminin receptor precursor/laminin receptor, LRP/LR) is a multi-faceted cellular receptor. It plays a vital role in the malignancy of various cancer types where it is seen to contribute to invasion, adhesion, apoptosis evasion and angiogenesis. Furthermore, it has been found to play an important role in facilitating the processes leading to neurotoxicity in Alzheimer's disease (AD). Various therapeutic options targeting this receptor have been patented with the outlook on application for the treatment/prevention of these diseases. AREAS COVERED The various roles that LRP/LR plays in cancer, AD and infectious diseases caused by viruses and bacteria have been examined in detail and an overview of the current patented therapeutic strategies targeting this receptor is given. EXPERT OPINION Molecular tools directed against LRP/LR, such as antibodies and small interfering RNA, could prove to be effective in the prevention of metastasis and angiogenesis while inducing apoptosis in cancers. Moreover, these strategies could also be applied to AD where LRP/LR is seen to facilitate the production and internalization of the neurotoxic Aβ peptide. This review provides a comprehensive overview of the mechanisms by which LRP/LR is involved in eliciting pathogenic events, while showing how the use of patented approaches targeting this receptor could be used to treat them.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katarina Jovanovic
- University of the Witwatersrand, School of Molecular and Cell Biology , Private Bag 3, Wits 2050, Johannesburg , Republic of South Africa
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80
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Simpson K, Jones RE, Grimstead JW, Hills R, Pepper C, Baird DM. Telomere fusion threshold identifies a poor prognostic subset of breast cancer patients. Mol Oncol 2015; 9:1186-93. [PMID: 25752197 PMCID: PMC4449122 DOI: 10.1016/j.molonc.2015.02.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/16/2014] [Revised: 01/29/2015] [Accepted: 02/06/2015] [Indexed: 11/05/2022] Open
Abstract
Telomere dysfunction and fusion can drive genomic instability and clonal evolution in human tumours, including breast cancer. Telomere length is a critical determinant of telomere function and has been evaluated as a prognostic marker in several tumour types, but it has yet to be used in the clinical setting. Here we show that high‐resolution telomere length analysis, together with a specific telomere fusion threshold, is highly prognostic for overall survival in a cohort of patients diagnosed with invasive ductal carcinoma of the breast (n = 120). The telomere fusion threshold defined a small subset of patients with an extremely poor clinical outcome, with a median survival of less than 12 months (HR = 21.4 (7.9–57.6), P < 0.0001). Furthermore, this telomere length threshold was independent of ER, PGR, HER2 status, NPI, or grade and was the dominant variable in multivariate analysis. We conclude that the fusogenic telomere length threshold provides a powerful, independent prognostic marker with clinical utility in breast cancer. Larger prospective studies are now required to determine the optimal way to incorporate high‐resolution telomere length analysis into multivariate prognostic algorithms for patients diagnosed with breast cancer. High‐resolution telomere length analysis is highly prognostic for overall survival. Independent of ER, PGR, HER2 status, NPI and grade. Dominant variable in multivariate analysis.
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Affiliation(s)
- K Simpson
- Institute of Cancer & Genetics, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Heath Park, Cardiff CF14 4XN, UK
| | - R E Jones
- Institute of Cancer & Genetics, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Heath Park, Cardiff CF14 4XN, UK
| | - J W Grimstead
- Institute of Cancer & Genetics, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Heath Park, Cardiff CF14 4XN, UK
| | - R Hills
- Institute of Cancer & Genetics, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Heath Park, Cardiff CF14 4XN, UK
| | - C Pepper
- Institute of Cancer & Genetics, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Heath Park, Cardiff CF14 4XN, UK
| | - D M Baird
- Institute of Cancer & Genetics, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Heath Park, Cardiff CF14 4XN, UK.
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81
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Hendrickson EA, Baird DM. Alternative end joining, clonal evolution, and escape from a telomere-driven crisis. Mol Cell Oncol 2015; 2:e975623. [PMID: 27308409 PMCID: PMC4905247 DOI: 10.4161/23723556.2014.975623] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/20/2014] [Revised: 09/27/2014] [Accepted: 09/29/2014] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
Telomere dysfunction and fusion play key roles in driving genomic instability and clonal evolution in many tumor types. We have recently described a role for DNA ligase III (LIG3) in facilitating the escape of cells from crisis induced by telomere dysfunction. Our data indicate that LIG3-mediated telomere fusion is important in facilitating clonal evolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eric A Hendrickson
- Department of Biochemistry; Molecular Biology, and Biophysics ; University of Minnesota Medical School ; Minneapolis, MN USA
| | - Duncan M Baird
- Institute of Cancer and Genetics; School of Medicine ; Cardiff University, Heath Park ; Cardiff, UK
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82
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Strefford JC. The genomic landscape of chronic lymphocytic leukaemia: biological and clinical implications. Br J Haematol 2014; 169:14-31. [PMID: 25496136 DOI: 10.1111/bjh.13254] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/26/2022]
Abstract
Chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) remains at the forefront of the genetic analysis of human tumours, principally due its prevalence, protracted natural history and accessibility to suitable material for analysis. With the application of high-throughput genetic technologies, we have an unbridled view of the architecture of the CLL genome, including a comprehensive description of the copy number and mutational landscape of the disease, a detailed picture of clonal evolution during pathogenesis, and the molecular mechanisms that drive genomic instability and therapeutic resistance. This work has nuanced the prognostic importance of established copy number alterations, and identified novel prognostically relevant gene mutations that function within biological pathways that are attractive treatment targets. Herein, an overview of recent genomic discoveries will be reviewed, with associated biological and clinical implications, and a view into how clinical implementation may be facilitated.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jonathan C Strefford
- Cancer Genomics, Academic Unit of Cancer Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK
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83
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Tanaka H, Beam MJ, Caruana K. The presence of telomere fusion in sporadic colon cancer independently of disease stage, TP53/KRAS mutation status, mean telomere length, and telomerase activity. Neoplasia 2014; 16:814-23. [PMID: 25379018 PMCID: PMC4212252 DOI: 10.1016/j.neo.2014.08.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/21/2014] [Revised: 08/19/2014] [Accepted: 08/20/2014] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Defects in telomere maintenance can result in telomere fusions that likely play a causative role in carcinogenesis by promoting genomic instability. However, this proposition remains to be fully understood in human colon carcinogenesis. In the present study, the temporal sequence of telomere dysfunction dynamics was delineated by analyzing telomere fusion, telomere length, telomerase activity, hotspot mutations in KRAS or BRAF, and TP53 of tissue samples obtained from 18 colon cancer patients. Our results revealed that both the deficiency of p53 and the shortening of mean telomere length were not necessary for producing telomere fusions in colon tissue. In five cases, telomere fusion was observed even in tissue adjacent to cancerous lesions, suggesting that genomic instability is initiated in pathologically non-cancerous lesions. The extent of mean telomere attrition increased with lymph node invasiveness of tumors, implying that mean telomere shortening correlates with colon cancer progression. Telomerase activity was relatively higher in most cancer tissues containing mutation(s) in KRAS or BRAF and/or TP53 compared to those without these hotspot mutations, suggesting that telomerase could become fully active at the late stage of colon cancer development. Interestingly, the majority of telomere fusion junctions in colon cancer appeared to be a chromatid-type containing chromosome 7q or 12q. In sum, this meticulous correlative study not only highlights the concept that telomere fusion is present in the early stages of cancer regardless of TP53/KRAS mutation status, mean telomere length, and telomerase activity, but also provides additional insights targeting key telomere fusion junctions which may have significant implications for colon cancer diagnoses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hiromi Tanaka
- Department of Medical and Molecular Genetics, Indiana University School of Medicine, IN, USA
| | - Matthew J Beam
- Department of Medical and Molecular Genetics, Indiana University School of Medicine, IN, USA
| | - Kevin Caruana
- Department of Medical and Molecular Genetics, Indiana University School of Medicine, IN, USA
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84
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Pepper C, Baird D, Fegan C. Telomere analysis to predict chronic lymphocytic leukemia outcome: a STELA test to change clinical practice? Expert Rev Hematol 2014; 7:701-3. [PMID: 25308469 DOI: 10.1586/17474086.2014.969705] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Defining the prognosis of individual chronic lymphocytic leukemia patients remains a significant clinical challenge. Consequently, there is a need to identify tests that can provide reliable personalized risk assessments. Here we discuss the problems associated with the currently used prognostic markers and emphasize the potential for using high-resolution telomere length analysis (STELA) for the accurate prediction of clinical outcome. Given the development of targeted, less toxic therapeutics in chronic lymphocytic leukemia, it is crucial to accurately identify those patients who might benefit from early treatment and equally those who may not require treatment at all. In this context, there is also a clear need for dependable predictive markers of response to drugs so that optimal treatment decisions can be made for individual patients.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chris Pepper
- Institute of Cancer and Genetics, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Heath Park, Cardiff, CF14 4XN, UK
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85
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Russo A, Modica F, Guarrera S, Fiorito G, Pardini B, Viberti C, Allione A, Critelli R, Bosio A, Casetta G, Cucchiarale G, Destefanis P, Gontero P, Rolle L, Zitella A, Fontana D, Frea B, Vineis P, Sacerdote C, Matullo G. Shorter Leukocyte Telomere Length Is Independently Associated with Poor Survival in Patients with Bladder Cancer. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2014; 23:2439-46. [DOI: 10.1158/1055-9965.epi-14-0228] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
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86
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Abstract
Our understanding of the pathophysiology of aplastic anemia is undergoing significant revision, with implications for diagnosis and treatment. Constitutional and acquired disease is poorly delineated, as lesions in some genetic pathways cause stereotypical childhood syndromes and also act as risk factors for clinical manifestations in adult life. Telomere diseases are a prominent example of this relationship. Accelerated telomere attrition is the result of mutations in telomere repair genes and genes encoding components of the shelterin complex and related proteins. Genotype-phenotype correlations show genes responsible for X-linked (DKC1) and severe recessive childhood dyskeratosis congenita, typically with associated mucocutaneous features, and others (TERC and TERT) for more subtle presentation as telomeropathy in adults, in which multiorgan failure may be prominent. Telomerase mutations also are etiologic in familial pulmonary fibrosis and cryptic liver disease. Detection of a telomere disease requires awareness in the clinic, appropriate laboratory testing of telomere content, and genetic sequencing. In treatment decisions, genetic screening of related donors for hematopoietic stem cell transplantation is critical, and androgen therapy may be helpful. Telomeres shorten normally with aging, as well as under environmental circumstances, with regenerative stress and oxidative damage. Telomere biology is complexly related to oncogenesis: telomere attrition is protective by enforcing senescence or apoptosis in cells with a long mitotic history, but telomere loss also can destabilize the genome by chromosome rearrangement and aneuploidy.
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87
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Jones RE, Oh S, Grimstead JW, Zimbric J, Roger L, Heppel NH, Ashelford KE, Liddiard K, Hendrickson EA, Baird DM. Escape from telomere-driven crisis is DNA ligase III dependent. Cell Rep 2014; 8:1063-76. [PMID: 25127141 DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2014.07.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 60] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/07/2014] [Revised: 05/28/2014] [Accepted: 07/10/2014] [Indexed: 12/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Short dysfunctional telomeres are capable of fusion, generating dicentric chromosomes and initiating breakage-fusion-bridge cycles. Cells that escape the ensuing cellular crisis exhibit large-scale genomic rearrangements that drive clonal evolution and malignant progression. We demonstrate that there is an absolute requirement for fully functional DNA ligase III (LIG3), but not ligase IV (LIG4), to facilitate the escape from a telomere-driven crisis. LIG3- and LIG4-dependent alternative (A) and classical (C) nonhomologous end-joining (NHEJ) pathways were capable of mediating the fusion of short dysfunctional telomeres, both displaying characteristic patterns of microhomology and deletion. Cells that failed to escape crisis exhibited increased proportions of C-NHEJ-mediated interchromosomal fusions, whereas those that escaped displayed increased proportions of intrachromosomal fusions. We propose that the balance between inter- and intrachromosomal telomere fusions dictates the ability of human cells to escape crisis and is influenced by the relative activities of A- and C-NHEJ at short dysfunctional telomeres.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rhiannon E Jones
- Institute of Cancer and Genetics, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Heath Park, Cardiff CF14 4XN, UK
| | - Sehyun Oh
- Department of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, and Biophysics, University of Minnesota Medical School, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA
| | - Julia W Grimstead
- Institute of Cancer and Genetics, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Heath Park, Cardiff CF14 4XN, UK
| | - Jacob Zimbric
- Department of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, and Biophysics, University of Minnesota Medical School, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA
| | - Laureline Roger
- Institute of Cancer and Genetics, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Heath Park, Cardiff CF14 4XN, UK
| | - Nicole H Heppel
- Institute of Cancer and Genetics, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Heath Park, Cardiff CF14 4XN, UK
| | - Kevin E Ashelford
- Institute of Cancer and Genetics, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Heath Park, Cardiff CF14 4XN, UK
| | - Kate Liddiard
- Institute of Cancer and Genetics, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Heath Park, Cardiff CF14 4XN, UK
| | - Eric A Hendrickson
- Department of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, and Biophysics, University of Minnesota Medical School, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA
| | - Duncan M Baird
- Institute of Cancer and Genetics, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Heath Park, Cardiff CF14 4XN, UK.
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88
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Gobbini E, Trovesi C, Cassani C, Longhese MP. Telomere uncapping at the crossroad between cell cycle arrest and carcinogenesis. Mol Cell Oncol 2014; 1:e29901. [PMID: 27308311 PMCID: PMC4905175 DOI: 10.4161/mco.29901] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/20/2014] [Revised: 06/24/2014] [Accepted: 06/30/2014] [Indexed: 01/24/2023]
Abstract
Telomeres are nucleoprotein complexes that protect the natural ends of chromosomes from fusion and degradation and prevent them eliciting a checkpoint response. This protective function, which is called telomere capping, is largely mediated by telomere-binding proteins that suppress checkpoint activation and DNA repair activities. Telomere dysfunction through progressive shortening or removal of capping proteins leads to a checkpoint-mediated block of cell proliferation, which acts as a cancer-suppressor mechanism. However, genetic alterations that inactivate the checkpoint can lead to further telomere erosion and increased genomic instability that, coupled with the activation of mechanisms to restabilize telomeres, can drive the oncogenic process.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elisa Gobbini
- Dipartimento di Biotecnologie e Bioscienze; Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca; Milano, Italia
| | - Camilla Trovesi
- Dipartimento di Biotecnologie e Bioscienze; Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca; Milano, Italia
| | - Corinne Cassani
- Dipartimento di Biotecnologie e Bioscienze; Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca; Milano, Italia
| | - Maria Pia Longhese
- Dipartimento di Biotecnologie e Bioscienze; Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca; Milano, Italia
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89
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Lin TT, Norris K, Heppel NH, Pratt G, Allan JM, Allsup DJ, Bailey J, Cawkwell L, Hills R, Grimstead JW, Jones RE, Britt-Compton B, Fegan C, Baird DM, Pepper C. Telomere dysfunction accurately predicts clinical outcome in chronic lymphocytic leukaemia, even in patients with early stage disease. Br J Haematol 2014; 167:214-23. [PMID: 24990087 DOI: 10.1111/bjh.13023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 71] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/26/2014] [Accepted: 06/03/2014] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
Defining the prognosis of individual cancer sufferers remains a significant clinical challenge. Here we assessed the ability of high-resolution single telomere length analysis (STELA), combined with an experimentally derived definition of telomere dysfunction, to predict the clinical outcome of patients with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL). We defined the upper telomere length threshold at which telomere fusions occur and then used the mean of the telomere 'fusogenic' range as a prognostic tool. Patients with telomeres within the fusogenic range had a significantly shorter overall survival (P < 0·0001; Hazard ratio [HR] = 13·2, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 11·6-106·4) and this was preserved in early-stage disease patients (P < 0·0001, HR=19·3, 95% CI = 17·8-802·5). Indeed, our assay allowed the accurate stratification of Binet stage A patients into those with indolent disease (91% survival at 10 years) and those with poor prognosis (13% survival at 10 years). Furthermore, patients with telomeres above the fusogenic mean showed superior prognosis regardless of their IGHV mutation status or cytogenetic risk group. In keeping with this finding, telomere dysfunction was the dominant variable in multivariate analysis. Taken together, this study provides compelling evidence for the use of high-resolution telomere length analysis coupled with a definition of telomere dysfunction in the prognostic assessment of CLL.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thet Thet Lin
- Cardiff CLL Research Group, Institute of Cancer & Genetics, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK
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90
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Bartocci C, Diedrich JK, Ouzounov I, Li J, Piunti A, Pasini D, Yates JR, Lazzerini Denchi E. Isolation of chromatin from dysfunctional telomeres reveals an important role for Ring1b in NHEJ-mediated chromosome fusions. Cell Rep 2014; 7:1320-32. [PMID: 24813883 DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2014.04.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 37] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/18/2013] [Revised: 03/04/2014] [Accepted: 04/02/2014] [Indexed: 12/30/2022] Open
Abstract
When telomeres become critically short, DNA damage response factors are recruited at chromosome ends, initiating a cellular response to DNA damage. We performed proteomic isolation of chromatin fragments (PICh) in order to define changes in chromatin composition that occur upon onset of acute telomere dysfunction triggered by depletion of the telomere-associated factor TRF2. This unbiased purification of telomere-associated proteins in functional or dysfunctional conditions revealed the dynamic changes in chromatin composition that take place at telomeres upon DNA damage induction. On the basis of our results, we describe a critical role for the polycomb group protein Ring1b in nonhomologous end-joining (NHEJ)-mediated end-to-end chromosome fusions. We show that cells with reduced levels of Ring1b have a reduced ability to repair uncapped telomeric chromatin. Our data represent an unbiased isolation of chromatin undergoing DNA damage and are a valuable resource to map the changes in chromatin composition in response to DNA damage activation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cristina Bartocci
- Department of Molecular and Experimental Medicine, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA
| | - Jolene K Diedrich
- Department of Chemical Physiology, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA
| | - Iliana Ouzounov
- Department of Molecular and Experimental Medicine, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA
| | - Julia Li
- Department of Molecular and Experimental Medicine, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA
| | - Andrea Piunti
- Department of Experimental Oncology, European Institute of Oncology, 20146 Milan, Italy
| | - Diego Pasini
- Department of Experimental Oncology, European Institute of Oncology, 20146 Milan, Italy
| | - John R Yates
- Department of Chemical Physiology, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA
| | - Eros Lazzerini Denchi
- Department of Molecular and Experimental Medicine, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA.
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91
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Qian Y, Yang L, Cao S. Telomeres and telomerase in T cells of tumor immunity. Cell Immunol 2014; 289:63-9. [PMID: 24727158 DOI: 10.1016/j.cellimm.2014.03.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/07/2013] [Revised: 03/05/2014] [Accepted: 03/24/2014] [Indexed: 02/08/2023]
Abstract
Telomeres are specific nucleoprotein structures at the end of a eukaryotic chromosomes characterized by repeats of the sequence TTAGGG and regulated by the enzyme telomerase which prevents their degradation, loss, rearrangement and end-to-end fusion. During activation, T lymphocytes actively divide, albeit through only a finite number of cell divisions due to shortening of telomeres. However, studies have demonstrated that human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT), thought to be the major component regulating telomerase activity, can enhance the proliferation of T cells when overexpressed. There are many treatments for cancers, most of which are targeting the telomere and telomerase of tumor cells. However, the hTERT-transduced T cells improve their potential for proliferation, making them an appropriate cell resource for tumor adoptive immunotherapy, a procedure whereby T cells are isolated from patients, expanded ex vivo and eventually delivered back into the patients, provides a new approach for tumor therapy through improved overall survival rates in cancer patients. In this review, we will focus on the telomerase activity in T cells, the regulation of telomerase activity, and hTERT-transduced T cells used in adoptive immunotherapy for cancer.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yaqin Qian
- Department of Immunology, Tianjin Cancer Institute & Hospital, Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin, China; National Clinical Research Center of Cancer, China; Key Laboratory of Cancer Immunology and Biotherapy, Tianjin, China; Research Center of Lung Cancer, Tianjin, China
| | - Lili Yang
- Department of Immunology, Tianjin Cancer Institute & Hospital, Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin, China; National Clinical Research Center of Cancer, China; Key Laboratory of Cancer Immunology and Biotherapy, Tianjin, China; Research Center of Lung Cancer, Tianjin, China.
| | - Shui Cao
- Department of Immunology, Tianjin Cancer Institute & Hospital, Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin, China; National Clinical Research Center of Cancer, China; Key Laboratory of Cancer Immunology and Biotherapy, Tianjin, China; Research Center of Lung Cancer, Tianjin, China.
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92
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Nussey DH, Baird D, Barrett E, Boner W, Fairlie J, Gemmell N, Hartmann N, Horn T, Haussmann M, Olsson M, Turbill C, Verhulst S, Zahn S, Monaghan P. Measuring telomere length and telomere dynamics in evolutionary biology and ecology. Methods Ecol Evol 2014; 5:299-310. [PMID: 25834722 PMCID: PMC4375921 DOI: 10.1111/2041-210x.12161] [Citation(s) in RCA: 135] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/11/2013] [Accepted: 01/13/2014] [Indexed: 12/25/2022]
Abstract
Telomeres play a fundamental role in the protection of chromosomal DNA and in the regulation of cellular senescence. Recent work in human epidemiology and evolutionary ecology suggests adult telomere length (TL) may reflect past physiological stress and predict subsequent morbidity and mortality, independent of chronological age. Several different methods have been developed to measure TL, each offering its own technical challenges. The aim of this review is to provide an overview of the advantages and drawbacks of each method for researchers, with a particular focus on issues that are likely to face ecologists and evolutionary biologists collecting samples in the field or in organisms that may never have been studied in this context before. We discuss the key issues to consider and wherever possible try to provide current consensus view regarding best practice with regard to sample collection and storage, DNA extraction and storage, and the five main methods currently available to measure TL. Decisions regarding which tissues to sample, how to store them, how to extract DNA, and which TL measurement method to use cannot be prescribed, and are dependent on the biological question addressed and the constraints imposed by the study system. What is essential for future studies of telomere dynamics in evolution and ecology is that researchers publish full details of their methods and the quality control thresholds they employ.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel H Nussey
- Institute of Evolutionary Biology and Centre for Immunity, Infection & Evolution, University of Edinburgh Edinburgh, EH9 3JT, UK
| | - Duncan Baird
- Institute of Cancer and Genetics, School of Medicine, Cardiff University Cardiff, CF14 4XN, UK
| | - Emma Barrett
- School of Biological Sciences, University of East Anglia Norwich, NR4 7TJ, UK
| | - Winnie Boner
- Institute of Biodiversity, Animal Health and Comparative Medicine, College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences, University of Glasgow Glasgow, G12 8QQ, UK
| | - Jennifer Fairlie
- Institute of Evolutionary Biology and Centre for Immunity, Infection & Evolution, University of Edinburgh Edinburgh, EH9 3JT, UK
| | - Neil Gemmell
- Department of Anatomy, Allan Wilson Centre for Molecular Ecology and Evolution, University of Otago Dunedin, 9054, New Zealand
| | - Nils Hartmann
- Leibniz Institute for Age Research - Fritz Lipmann Institute (FLI), Molecular Genetics Group Jena, 07745, Germany
| | - Thorsten Horn
- Institute for Developmental Biology, Cologne Biocenter, University of Cologne Cologne, 50674, Germany
| | - Mark Haussmann
- Department of Biology, Bucknell University Lewisburg, PA, 17837, USA
| | - Mats Olsson
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Sydney Sydney, NSW, 2006, Australia
| | - Chris Turbill
- Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, University of Western Sydney Richmond, NSW, 2753, Australia
| | | | - Sandrine Zahn
- Département d'Ecologie, Physiologie et Ethologie (DEPE), Institut Pluridisciplinaire Huber Curien, CNRS UMR7178 Strasbourg Cedex 2, 67087, France ; University of Strasbourg Strasbourg Cedex, F-67081, France
| | - Pat Monaghan
- Institute of Biodiversity, Animal Health and Comparative Medicine, College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences, University of Glasgow Glasgow, G12 8QQ, UK
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93
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Abstract
Telomere erosion may be counteracted by telomerase. Here we explored telomere length (TL) and telomerase activity (TA) in primary cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL) by using quantitative polymerase chain reaction and interphase quantitative fluorescence in situ hybridization assays. Samples from patients with Sézary syndrome (SS), transformed mycosis fungoides (T-MF), and cutaneous anaplastic large cell lymphoma were studied in parallel with corresponding cell lines to evaluate the relevance of TL and TA as target candidates for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes. Compared with controls, short telomeres were observed in aggressive CTCL subtypes such as SS and T-MF and were restricted to neoplastic cells in SS. While no genomic alteration of the hTERT (human telomerase catalytic subunit) locus was observed in patients' tumor cells, TA was detected. To understand the role of telomerase in CTCL, we manipulated its expression in CTCL cell lines. Telomerase inhibition rapidly impeded in vitro cell proliferation and led to cell death, while telomerase overexpression stimulated in vitro proliferation and clonogenicity properties and favored tumor development in immunodeficient mice. Our data indicate that, besides maintenance of TL, telomerase exerts additional functions in CTCL. Therefore, targeting these functions might represent an attractive therapeutic strategy, especially in aggressive CTCL.
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94
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Paiva RMA, Calado RT. Telomere dysfunction and hematologic disorders. PROGRESS IN MOLECULAR BIOLOGY AND TRANSLATIONAL SCIENCE 2014; 125:133-57. [PMID: 24993701 DOI: 10.1016/b978-0-12-397898-1.00006-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
Abstract
Aplastic anemia is a disease in which the hematopoietic stem cell fails to adequately produce peripheral blood cells, causing pancytopenia. In some cases of acquired aplastic anemia and in inherited type of aplastic anemia, dyskeratosis congenita, telomere biology gene mutations and telomere shortening are etiologic. Telomere erosion hampers the ability of hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells to adequately replicate, clinically resulting in bone marrow failure. Additionally, telomerase mutations and short telomeres are genetic risk factors for the development of some hematologic cancers, including myelodysplastic syndrome, acute myeloid leukemia, and chronic lymphocytic leukemia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Raquel M A Paiva
- Department of Internal Medicine, University of São Paulo at Ribeirão Preto School of Medicine, Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Rodrigo T Calado
- Department of Internal Medicine, University of São Paulo at Ribeirão Preto School of Medicine, Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo, Brazil
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95
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Göhring J, Fulcher N, Jacak J, Riha K. TeloTool: a new tool for telomere length measurement from terminal restriction fragment analysis with improved probe intensity correction. Nucleic Acids Res 2013; 42:e21. [PMID: 24366880 PMCID: PMC3919618 DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkt1315] [Citation(s) in RCA: 65] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/03/2023] Open
Abstract
Telomeres comprise the protective caps of natural chromosome ends and function in the suppression of DNA damage signaling and cellular senescence. Therefore, techniques used to determine telomere length are important in a number of studies, ranging from those investigating telomeric structure to effects on human disease. Terminal restriction fragment (TRF) analysis has for a long time shown to be one of the most accurate methods for quantification of absolute telomere length and range from a number of species. As this technique centers on standard Southern blotting, telomeric DNA is observed on resulting autoradiograms as a heterogeneous smear. Methods to accurately determine telomere length from telomeric smears have proven problematic, and no reliable technique has been suggested to obtain mean telomere length values. Here, we present TeloTool, a new program allowing thorough statistical analysis of TRF data. Using this new method, a number of methodical biases are removed from previously stated techniques, including assumptions based on probe intensity corrections. This program provides a standardized mean for quick and reliable extraction of quantitative data from TRF autoradiograms; its wide application will allow accurate comparison between datasets generated in different laboratories.
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Affiliation(s)
- Janett Göhring
- Max F. Perutz Laboratories, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna 1030, Austria, Gregor Mendel Institute, Vienna 1030, Austria, Institute for Applied Physics, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Linz 4040, Austria and Upper Austria University of Applied Sciences, Campus Linz, Linz 4020, Austria
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96
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Short telomeres: from dyskeratosis congenita to sporadic aplastic anemia and malignancy. Transl Res 2013; 162:353-63. [PMID: 23732052 PMCID: PMC3834083 DOI: 10.1016/j.trsl.2013.05.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 61] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/13/2013] [Revised: 05/06/2013] [Accepted: 05/09/2013] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Abstract
Telomeres are DNA-protein structures that form a protective cap on chromosome ends. As such, they prevent the natural ends of linear chromosomes from being subjected to DNA repair activities that would result in telomere fusion, degradation, or recombination. Both the DNA and protein components of the telomere are required for this essential function, because insufficient telomeric DNA length, loss of the terminal telomeric DNA structure, or deficiency of key telomere-associated factors may elicit a DNA damage response and result in cellular senescence or apoptosis. In the setting of failed checkpoint mechanisms, such DNA-protein defects can also lead to genomic instability through telomere fusions or recombination. Thus, as shown in both model systems and in humans, defects in telomere biology are implicated in cellular and organismal aging as well as in tumorigenesis. Bone marrow failure and malignancy are 2 life-threatening disease manifestations in the inherited telomere biology disorder dyskeratosis congenita. We provide an overview of basic telomere structure and maintenance. We outline the telomere biology defects observed in dyskeratosis congenita, focusing on recent discoveries in this field. Last, we review the evidence of how telomere biology may impact sporadic aplastic anemia and the risk for various cancers.
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97
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Three-dimensional Nuclear Telomere Organization in Multiple Myeloma. Transl Oncol 2013; 6:749-56. [PMID: 24466378 DOI: 10.1593/tlo.13613] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/18/2013] [Revised: 11/19/2013] [Accepted: 11/22/2013] [Indexed: 12/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Multiple myeloma (MM) is preceded by monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS). Up to date, it is difficult to predict an individual's time to disease progression and the treatment response. To examine whether the nuclear telomeric architecture will unravel some of these questions, we carried out. Three-dimensional (3D) telomere analysis on samples from patients diagnosed with MGUS and MM, as well as from patients who went into relapse. Telomere signal intensity, number of telomere aggregates, nuclear volume, and the overall nuclear telomere distribution (a/c ratio) were analyzed. The telomeric profiles allowed for the differentiation of the disease stages. The telomeric profiles of myeloma cells obtained from blood and bone marrow aspirates were identical. Based on this study, we discuss the use of 3D telomere profiling as a potential future tool for risk stratification and personalized treatment decisions.
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98
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Roger L, Jones RE, Heppel NH, Williams GT, Sampson JR, Baird DM. Extensive telomere erosion in the initiation of colorectal adenomas and its association with chromosomal instability. J Natl Cancer Inst 2013; 105:1202-11. [PMID: 23918447 DOI: 10.1093/jnci/djt191] [Citation(s) in RCA: 71] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Telomere shortening, dysfunction, and fusion may facilitate the acquisition of large-scale genomic rearrangements, driving clonal evolution and tumor progression. The relative contribution that telomere dysfunction and/or APC mutation play in the chromosome instability that occurs during colorectal tumorigenesis is not clear. METHODS We used high-resolution telomere length and fusion analysis to analyze 85 adenomatous colorectal polyps obtained from 10 patients with familial adenomatous polyposis and a panel of 50 colorectal carcinomas with patient-matched normal colonic mucosa. Telomerase activity was determined using the telomeric repeat amplification protocol. Array-CGH was used to detect large-scale genomic rearrangements. Pearson correlation and Student t test were used, and all statistical tests were two-sided. RESULTS Despite the presence of telomerase activity, we observed apparent telomere shortening in colorectal polyps that correlated with large-scale genomic rearrangements (P < .0001) but was independent of polyp size and indistinguishable from that observed in colorectal carcinomas (P = .82). We also observed apparent lengthening of telomeres in both polyps and carcinomas. The extensive differences in mean telomere length of up to 4.6kb between patient-matched normal mucosa and polyps were too large to be accounted for by replicative telomere erosion alone. Telomere fusion events were detected in both polyps and carcinomas; the mutational spectrum accompanying fusion was consistent with alternative nonhomologous end joining. CONCLUSIONS Telomere length distributions observed in colorectal polyps reflect the telomere length composition of the normal originating cells from which clonal growth was initiated. Originating cells containing both short telomeres and APC mutations may give rise to polyps that exhibit short telomeres and are prone to telomere dysfunction, driving genomic instability and progression to malignancy. J Natl Cancer Inst;2013;105:1202-1211.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laureline Roger
- Institute of Cancer and Genetics, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK
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99
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Mansouri L, Grabowski P, Degerman S, Svenson U, Gunnarsson R, Cahill N, Smedby KE, Geisler C, Juliusson G, Roos G, Rosenquist R. Short telomere length is associated with NOTCH1/SF3B1/TP53 aberrations and poor outcome in newly diagnosed chronic lymphocytic leukemia patients. Am J Hematol 2013; 88:647-51. [PMID: 23620080 DOI: 10.1002/ajh.23466] [Citation(s) in RCA: 37] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/23/2013] [Revised: 03/28/2013] [Accepted: 04/18/2013] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
Most previous studies on telomere length (TL) in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) are based on referral cohorts including a high proportion of aggressive cases. Here, the impact of TL was analyzed in a population-based cohort of newly diagnosed CLL (n = 265) and in relation to other prognostic markers. Short telomeres were particularly associated with high-risk genetic markers, such as NOTCH1, SF3B1, or TP53 aberrations, and predicted a short time to treatment (TTT) and overall survival (OS) (both P < 0.0001). TL was an independent prognostic factor and subdivided patients with otherwise good-prognostic features (e.g., mutated IGHV genes, favorable cytogenetics) into subgroups with different outcome. Furthermore, in follow-up samples (n = 119) taken 5-8 years after diagnosis, TL correlated well with TL at diagnosis and remained unaffected by treatment. Altogether, these novel data indicate that short TL already at diagnosis is associated with poor outcome in CLL and that TL can be measured at later stages of the disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Larry Mansouri
- Department of Immunology; Genetics; and Pathology; Rudbeck Laboratory; Uppsala University; Uppsala; Sweden
| | - Pawel Grabowski
- Department of Medical Biosciences; Umeå University; Umeå; Sweden
| | - Sofie Degerman
- Department of Medical Biosciences; Umeå University; Umeå; Sweden
| | - Ulrika Svenson
- Department of Medical Biosciences; Umeå University; Umeå; Sweden
| | - Rebeqa Gunnarsson
- Department of Immunology; Genetics; and Pathology; Rudbeck Laboratory; Uppsala University; Uppsala; Sweden
| | - Nicola Cahill
- Department of Immunology; Genetics; and Pathology; Rudbeck Laboratory; Uppsala University; Uppsala; Sweden
| | - Karin Ekström Smedby
- Department of Medicine; Clinical Epidemiology Unit; Karolinska Institutet; Stockholm; Sweden
| | | | - Gunnar Juliusson
- Department of Laboratory Medicine; Stem Cell Center; Hematology and Transplantation; Lund University; Lund; Sweden
| | - Göran Roos
- Department of Medical Biosciences; Umeå University; Umeå; Sweden
| | - Richard Rosenquist
- Department of Immunology; Genetics; and Pathology; Rudbeck Laboratory; Uppsala University; Uppsala; Sweden
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100
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Abstract
Alterations in the single-stranded telomere-binding protein POT1 have recently been identified in chronic lymphocytic leukemia. This discovery provides novel insights into how genomic instability induced by dysfunctional telomeres contributes to tumorigenesis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sandy Chang
- Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology at Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, USA.
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