Antitumor effect of COOH-terminal polypeptide of human TERT is associated with the declined expression of hTERT and NF-κB p65 in HeLa cells

Abstract

Human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) plays an important role in the development of tumors and has been investigated as a potent target for anticancer therapy. In the present study, we constructed a recombinant adenovirus, Ad-EGFP-C197 which was capable of expressing COOH-terminal polypeptide of hTERT (amino acid 936-1,132, termed as C197 for the reason that it contains 197 amino acids). Infection of HeLa cells with Ad-EGFP-C197 suppressed the activity of telomerase, decreased the expression of hTERT and NF-κB p65, and induced rapid growth delay and apoptosis of HeLa cells in vitro. In nude mice xenografted with HeLa tumors, injection of Ad-EGFP-C197 into the tumor nodule significantly slowed tumor growth and promoted tumor cell apoptosis, as well as reduced the expression of NF-κB p65 in tumor tissues. In the present study, we suggest that the antitumor effect of C197 is associated with the declined expression of hTERT and NF-κB p65. Our results highlight the potential of C197 in tumor therapy.