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The co-expression of telomerase and ALT pathway in human breast cancer tissues

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Tumor Biology

Abstract

Recently, telomerase-targeted therapy was studied intensively; however, many studies have verified the existence of alternative lengthening mechanisms of telomeres in vitro. In the present work, we explored the expression characteristic of the two kinds of telomere-prolonging mechanisms in the breast cancer tissues per se. Furthermore, we studied the relationship between Her-2 expression and ALT pathway. Ninety samples of breast cancer tissues were examined in this research. RT-PCR was used for the detection of the expression of human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT); IHC was used for the detection of the expression of promyelocytic leukemia body (PML) bodies; the co-expression of PML bodies and hTERT was detected using the QDs-based immunofluorescence. The co-expression of PML body and hTERT was found in the same cell in breast cancer tissues, and ten samples expressed neither PML bodies nor hTERT. Additionally, the expression of PML bodies and Her-2 was statistically co-related (P = 0.047). The two kinds of mechanisms of telomere extension can co-exist in the same cell in beast cancer tissues, and there may be other mechanisms of telomere extension functioning in human breast carcinoma.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported in part by the National Nature Science Foundation (No.81102024 and No.81372407) and the Nature Science Foundation of Hubei Province (No.2013CFB234).

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Oncology Center, Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei, 430060, China

    Bin Xu, Min Peng & Qibin Song

Authors
  1. Bin Xu
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  2. Min Peng
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  3. Qibin Song
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Qibin Song.

Additional information

Bin Xu and Min Peng contributed equally to this work.

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Xu, B., Peng, M. & Song, Q. The co-expression of telomerase and ALT pathway in human breast cancer tissues. Tumor Biol. 35, 4087–4093 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13277-013-1534-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13277-013-1534-0

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