CRISPR/Cas9-Mediated TERT Disruption in Cancer Cells
Mammalian telomere lengths are primarily regulated by telomerase, a ribonucleoprotein consisting of a reverse transcriptase (TERT) and an RNA subunit (TERC). TERC is constitutively expressed in all cells, whereas TERT expression is temporally and spatially regulated, such that in most adult somatic...
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doaj-91fd69f7a2844fa58c07f95ddaf577902020-11-25T01:12:57ZengMDPI AGInternational Journal of Molecular Sciences1422-00672020-01-0121265310.3390/ijms21020653ijms21020653CRISPR/Cas9-Mediated TERT Disruption in Cancer CellsLuan Wen0Changzhi Zhao1Jun Song2Linyuan Ma3Jinxue Ruan4Xiaofeng Xia5Y. Eugene Chen6Jifeng Zhang7Peter X. Ma8Jie Xu9Center for Advanced Models and Translational Sciences and Therapeutics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USACenter for Advanced Models and Translational Sciences and Therapeutics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USACenter for Advanced Models and Translational Sciences and Therapeutics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USACenter for Advanced Models and Translational Sciences and Therapeutics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USACenter for Advanced Models and Translational Sciences and Therapeutics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USAResearch & Development, ATGC Inc. 100 E Lancaster Avenue, LIMR Building Lab129, Wynnewood, PA 19096, USACenter for Advanced Models and Translational Sciences and Therapeutics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USACenter for Advanced Models and Translational Sciences and Therapeutics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USADepartment of Biologic and Materials Sciences, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USACenter for Advanced Models and Translational Sciences and Therapeutics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USAMammalian telomere lengths are primarily regulated by telomerase, a ribonucleoprotein consisting of a reverse transcriptase (TERT) and an RNA subunit (TERC). TERC is constitutively expressed in all cells, whereas TERT expression is temporally and spatially regulated, such that in most adult somatic cells, TERT is inactivated and telomerase activity is undetectable. Most tumor cells activate TERT as a mechanism for preventing progressive telomere attrition to achieve proliferative immortality. Therefore, inactivating TERT has been considered to be a promising means of cancer therapy. Here we applied the CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing system to target the TERT gene in cancer cells. We report that disruption of TERT severely compromises cancer cell survival in vitro and in vivo. Haploinsufficiency of TERT in tumor cells is sufficient to result in telomere attrition and growth retardation in vitro. In vivo, TERT haploinsufficient tumor cells failed to form xenograft after transplantation to nude mice. Our work demonstrates that gene editing-mediated TERT knockout is a potential therapeutic option for treating cancer.https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/21/2/653crispr/cas9gene editingtelomerasetertcancer therapy |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Luan Wen Changzhi Zhao Jun Song Linyuan Ma Jinxue Ruan Xiaofeng Xia Y. Eugene Chen Jifeng Zhang Peter X. Ma Jie Xu |
spellingShingle |
Luan Wen Changzhi Zhao Jun Song Linyuan Ma Jinxue Ruan Xiaofeng Xia Y. Eugene Chen Jifeng Zhang Peter X. Ma Jie Xu CRISPR/Cas9-Mediated TERT Disruption in Cancer Cells International Journal of Molecular Sciences crispr/cas9 gene editing telomerase tert cancer therapy |
author_facet |
Luan Wen Changzhi Zhao Jun Song Linyuan Ma Jinxue Ruan Xiaofeng Xia Y. Eugene Chen Jifeng Zhang Peter X. Ma Jie Xu |
author_sort |
Luan Wen |
title |
CRISPR/Cas9-Mediated TERT Disruption in Cancer Cells |
title_short |
CRISPR/Cas9-Mediated TERT Disruption in Cancer Cells |
title_full |
CRISPR/Cas9-Mediated TERT Disruption in Cancer Cells |
title_fullStr |
CRISPR/Cas9-Mediated TERT Disruption in Cancer Cells |
title_full_unstemmed |
CRISPR/Cas9-Mediated TERT Disruption in Cancer Cells |
title_sort |
crispr/cas9-mediated tert disruption in cancer cells |
publisher |
MDPI AG |
series |
International Journal of Molecular Sciences |
issn |
1422-0067 |
publishDate |
2020-01-01 |
description |
Mammalian telomere lengths are primarily regulated by telomerase, a ribonucleoprotein consisting of a reverse transcriptase (TERT) and an RNA subunit (TERC). TERC is constitutively expressed in all cells, whereas TERT expression is temporally and spatially regulated, such that in most adult somatic cells, TERT is inactivated and telomerase activity is undetectable. Most tumor cells activate TERT as a mechanism for preventing progressive telomere attrition to achieve proliferative immortality. Therefore, inactivating TERT has been considered to be a promising means of cancer therapy. Here we applied the CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing system to target the TERT gene in cancer cells. We report that disruption of TERT severely compromises cancer cell survival in vitro and in vivo. Haploinsufficiency of TERT in tumor cells is sufficient to result in telomere attrition and growth retardation in vitro. In vivo, TERT haploinsufficient tumor cells failed to form xenograft after transplantation to nude mice. Our work demonstrates that gene editing-mediated TERT knockout is a potential therapeutic option for treating cancer. |
topic |
crispr/cas9 gene editing telomerase tert cancer therapy |
url |
https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/21/2/653 |
work_keys_str_mv |
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