Influence of 3'-azido-2',3'-dideoxyguanosine treatment on telomere length in human telomerase-immortalized human fibroblast cells.

Abstract

In order to study telomerase activation in normal cells, a telomerase-immortalized fibroblast cell line, hTERT-BJ1, treated with a telomerase inhibitor, 3'-azido-2',3'-dideoxyguanosine (AZddG), is considered to be a good model. Long-term treatment with AZddG resulted in telomere shortening from 10-20 kbp to 5-6 kbp in cultured hTERT BJ1 cells. However, the telomere length then stabilized. As expected, removal of AZddG from the culture medium induced telomere lengthening in the cells, suggesting that telomerase activity was recovered upon AZddG removal. The effect of recovery of telomerase activity in hTERT-BJ1 cells will be investigated in future studies.