TERC telomerase subunit gene copy number in different disease stages of non-hodgkin lymphoma and in hepatitis C

Increased TERC gene copy number and cells in senescence in primary sclerosing cholangitis compared to colitis and control patients

OBJECTIVE

Primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) is a chronic cholestatic disorder that involves inflammatory and fibrotic changes in the bile ducts. Up to 80% of patients have concomitant inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) with colitis. PSC patients are predisposed to develop hepatobiliary, colonic and other extrahepatic malignancies, probably related to inflammatory processes that might promote carcinogenesis. Telomerase is an enzyme complex that lengthens telomeres and has enhanced expression in numerous malignancies. In this study, we evaluated the TERC gene copy number, the proportion of cells in senescence and the amount of fragmentation in the senescent state.

METHODS

Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) for the TERC gene was applied to lymphocytes retrieved from PSC (N=19), colitis (N=20) and healthy control patients (N=20) to determine the TERC copy number. On the same FISH slides, cells stained with DAPI were also analyzed for senescence-associated heterochromatin foci (SAHF) status, including the number of cells with fragments and the number of SAHF fragments in each cell.

RESULTS

A higher TERC gene copy number was observed in cells from PSC patients compared to colitis and control group patients. It was also higher in the colitis than in the control group. Significantly more cells in the senescent state and more fragmentation in each cell were observed in the PSC group compared to colitis and control groups.

CONCLUSION

The TERC gene copy number and the number of cells in the senescent state were increased in PSC patients compared to the colitis and control groups. These findings are probably related to the genetic instability parameters that reflect the higher tendency of this patient group to develop malignancies.

Molecular signature in HCV-positive lymphomas

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a positive, single-stranded RNA virus, which has been associated to different subtypes of B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma (B-NHL). Cumulative evidence suggests an HCV-related antigen driven process in the B-NHL development. The underlying molecular signature associated to HCV-related B-NHL has to date remained obscure. In this review, we discuss the recent developments in this field with a special mention to different sets of genes whose expression is associated with BCR coupled to Blys signaling which in turn was found to be linked to B-cell maturation stages and NF-κb transcription factor. Even if recent progress on HCV-B-NHL signature has been made, the precise relationship between HCV and lymphoma development and phenotype signature remain to be clarified.