Gene expression levels of human shelterin complex and shelterin-associated factors regulated by the topoisomerase II inhibitors doxorubicin and etoposide in human cultured cells.

Human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) is responsible for telomere elongation, and its activity is strongly related to the expression level of the hTERT gene; however, the transcriptional regulation of telomeric genes, which play a central role in telomere maintenance and protection by facilitating replication and regulating telomerase access, is poorly understood. In this study, we aimed to reveal the changes in the mRNA expression of six components of the shelterin complex and three shelterin complex-associated factors in topoisomerase II inhibitor-treated human cultured cells. Using a quantitative gene expression analysis, we found that a reduction in telomeric repeat-binding factor 1 (TRF1), protection of telomeres (POT1), and TRF1-interacting ankyrin-related ADP-ribose polymerase 1 (TNKS1) mRNAs was observed in etoposide- and doxorubicin-treated HeLa and U-2 OS cells, while an increased TRF2-interacting telomeric protein (RAP1) mRNA level was observed in U-2 OS cells. Furthermore, doxorubicin suppressed TRF1 and POT1 mRNAs in both Saos-2 and WI-38 cells and increased RAP1 mRNA in WI-38 cells. In agreement with the results obtained in the quantitative gene expression analysis in U-2 OS cells, the topoisomerase II inhibitors negatively and positively regulated the POT1 and RAP1 gene promoters, respectively. Taken together, these results suggest the successful identification of unique topoisomerase II inhibitor-inducible telomeric genes and provide mechanistic insight into the regulation of telomeric gene expression by chemotherapeutic agents.