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Telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) expression and proliferation in canine brain tumours
Author(s) -
Long S.,
Argyle D. J.,
Nixon C.,
Nicholson I.,
Botteron C.,
Olby N.,
Platt S.,
Smith K.,
Rutteman G. R.,
Grinwis G. C. M.,
Nasir L.
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
neuropathology and applied neurobiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.538
H-Index - 95
eISSN - 1365-2990
pISSN - 0305-1846
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2990.2006.00776.x
Subject(s) - telomerase , telomerase reverse transcriptase , ribonucleoprotein , telomere , immunohistochemistry , reverse transcriptase , pathology , biology , oligodendroglioma , cancer research , astrocytoma , glioma , medicine , rna , dna , biochemistry , genetics , gene
Telomerase is a ribonucleoprotein enzyme complex that synthesizes telomere DNA. It is detected in 85–90% of malignant tumours in humans, but not in most somatic cells. Because telomerase plays a critical role in cell immortality, it represents an important target for anticancer therapies. We have previously shown that the dog is a potentially useful model for evaluating telomerase‐based therapeutics. In this present study we analysed 93 canine brain tumours for telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) expression by immunohistochemistry. TERT immunoreactivity was detected in 16 of 50 grade 1 (32%) and 29 of 43 grade 2 tumours (67.4%), demonstrating a statistically significant association with histological grade ( P = 0.00012). A subset of 51 tumours was also assessed for MIB‐1 expression. The MIB‐1 labelling index (LI) was found to correlate significantly with tumour grade, with a mean MIB‐1 LI of 1.5% for grade 1 tumours, as compared with a mean MIB‐1 LI of 21.7% for grade 2 tumours ( P << 0.001). The MIB‐1 LI was also significantly associated with TERT expression in all brain tumours ( P << 0.001). These data further support the dog as a model for the preclinical development of telomerase‐based therapeutics in brain tumours.