Year: 2003
Type: article
Abstract: Human telomerase is highly active in more than 85% of primary cancers, regardless of their tissue origins, but not in most differentiated somatic tissues. Because of this, telomerase recently has become a popular target of anticancer therapy and has been used as a marker of cancer. Similarly, telomerase promoters, especially telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) promoter, have been zealously tested for targeted cancer gene therapy. In vitro and in vivo studies have demonstrated that the human TERT (hTERT) promoter is highly active in human and murine cancer cells but not in normal differentiated human cells, normal human CD34+ progenitor cells, normal mouse fibroblasts, or normal mouse livers. Moreover, transcription factors can dramatically augment transgene expression from the hTERT promoter without the promoter losing its specificity. Thus far, telomerase promoters have been tested for targeted cancer gene therapy with proapoptotic, cytotoxic, and prodrug-activating genes and with replication-competent viral vectors. Here, we review recent achievements in telomerase promoter-based targeted cancer gene therapy.
Source: Cancer Biology & Therapy
DOI: 10.4161/cbt.204
Authors: Jian Gu, Bingliang Fang
Institution: The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
Language: English
Subfield: Physiology
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
Funder: National Cancer Institute
OpenAlex ID: W2022822026