Increased telomerase activity and hTERT expression in human salivary gland carcinomas

Shigeishi,Hideo; Sugiyama,Masaru; Tahara,Hidetoshi; Ono,Shigehiro; Kumar Bhawal,Ujjal; Okura,Masaya; Kogo,Mikihiko; Shinohara,Masanori; Shindoh,Masanobu; Shintani,Satoru; Hamakawa,Hiroyuki; Takata,Takashi; Kamata,Nobuyuki

doi:10.3892/ol.2011.354

Increased telomerase activity and hTERT expression in human salivary gland carcinomas

Authors:
- Hideo Shigeishi
- Masaru Sugiyama
- Hidetoshi Tahara
- Shigehiro Ono
- Ujjal Kumar Bhawal
- Masaya Okura
- Mikihiko Kogo
- Masanori Shinohara
- Masanobu Shindoh
- Satoru Shintani
- Hiroyuki Hamakawa
- Takashi Takata
- Nobuyuki Kamata
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Affiliations: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Division of Cervico-Gnathostomatology, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Hiroshima University, Hiroshima 734-8553, Japan, Department of Public Oral Health, Division of Oral Health Science, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Hiroshima University, Hiroshima, Japan, Department of Medicine and Molecular Science, Division of Integrated Medical Science, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Hiroshima University, Hiroshima, Japan, Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Division of Cervico-Gnathostomatology, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Hiroshima University, Hiroshima 734-8553, Japan, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Nihon University School of Dentistry at Matsudo, Matsudo, Japan, The First Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Osaka University Graduate School of Dentistry, Osaka, Japan, Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kumamoto University, Kumamoto, Japan, Department of Oral Pathology and Biology, Hokkaido University Graduate School of Dental Medicine, Sapporo, Japan, Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, School of Dentistry, Showa University, Tokyo, Japan, Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Ehime University Graduate School of Medicine, Ehime, Japan, Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Pathobiology, Division of Frontier Medical Science, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Hiroshima University, Hiroshima, Japan
Published online on: July 5, 2011 https://doi.org/10.3892/ol.2011.354
Pages: 845-850

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Abstract

Approximately 85% of human malignant tumors express increased levels of telomerase. The marked association of telomerase activity with malignant tissue provides strong evidence that telomerase activity is a significant marker for the diagnosis of cancer. In this study, telomerase activity was examined in 12 benign salivary gland tumors (8 pleomorphic adenomas and 4 adenolymphomas), 24 malignant tumors (15 mucoepidermoid carcinomas, 6 adenoid cystic carcinomas and 3 acinic cell carcinomas) and 6 non-neoplastic salivary glands. The mRNA expression of the human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) and additional telomerase‑associated proteins (hTEP1, p23, Hsp90 and dyskerin) was also examined. Of the 24 malignant tumors, 15 revealed strong telomerase activity. The non-neoplastic salivary glands appeared to have a negative telomerase expression. Furthermore, telomerase activity was significantly higher in high-grade mucoepidermoid carcinomas compared to low‑grade ones (Student's t-test, p<0.05). A significant correlation was found between telomerase activity and mRNA expression of hTERT in 15 cases, including non-neoplastic salivary glands and tumors (Spearman's rank correlation test, p<0.05). Furthermore, a significant correlation was found between telomerase activity and mRNA expression of EGFR (Spearman's rank correlation test, p<0.001). The results suggest that not only hTERT, but also EGFR play a significant role in the activation of telomerase. In conclusion, the results suggest that telomerase activity and hTERT/EGFR mRNA expression are useful markers for the detection of malignant cells in salivary gland carcinomas. Moreover, our results indicated that telomerase activity determines the degree of malignancy of mucoepidermoid carcinoma.