ArticleBiology open2018
Telomerase reverse transcriptase coordinates with the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition through a feedback loop to define properties of breast cancer stem cells.
Article in Biology open, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 21 papers.
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Who cites it
21 citing papers in PubMed, 53 citations in OpenAlex.
- Article
- Alteration of metabolic activity regulates mitochondrial temperature in diagnosis in HepG2 hepatocellular carcinoma cells.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Amniotic membrane promotes doxorubicin potency by suppressing SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cell angiogenesis.BMC cancer · 2025Article
- Human amniotic membrane scaffold enhances adipose mesenchymal stromal cell mitochondrial bioenergetics promoting their regenerative capacities.Molecular and cellular biochemistry · 2025Article
- Despicable role of epithelial-mesenchymal transition in breast cancer metastasis: ExhibitingCancer pathogenesis and therapy · 2025Review
- Telomerase inhibition in breast cancer and breast cancer stem cells: a brief review.Medical oncology (Northwood, London, England) · 2024Review
- Transduction of Human Fetal Liver Hematopoietic CD34+ Stem and Progenitor Cells into a Cell Line by Enhancing Telomerase Activity.International journal of hematology-oncology and stem cell research · 2024Article
- Diabetic microenvironment deteriorates the regenerative capacities of adipose mesenchymal stromal cells.Diabetology & metabolic syndrome · 2024Article
- The cross talk between type II diabetic microenvironment and the regenerative capacities of human adipose tissue-derived pericytes: a promising cell therapy.Stem cell research & therapy · 2024Article
- Navigating Tumour Microenvironment and Wnt Signalling Crosstalk: Implications for Advanced Cancer Therapeutics.Cancers · 2023Review
- Regulation and clinical potential of telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT/hTERT) in breast cancer.Cell communication and signaling : CCS · 2023Review
- MAPK/ERK-CBP-RFPL-3 Mediates Adipose-Derived Stem Cell-Induced Tumor Growth in Breast Cancer Cells by Activating Telomerase Reverse Transcriptase Expression.Stem cells international · 2022Article
- miR-490 suppresses telomere maintenance program and associated hallmarks in glioblastoma.Cellular and molecular life sciences : CMLS · 2021Article
- The long non coding RNA H19 as a biomarker for breast cancer diagnosis in Lebanese women.Scientific reports · 2020Article
- A Novel Liquid Biopsy Strategy to Detect Small Amounts of Cancer Cells Using Cancer-Specific Replication Adenoviruses.Journal of clinical medicine · 2020Review
- Pin2 telomeric repeat factor 1-interacting telomerase inhibitor 1 (PinX1) inhibits nasopharyngeal cancer cell stemness: implication for cancer progression and therapeutic targeting.Journal of experimental & clinical cancer research : CR · 2020Article
- Stem Cell Therapy for Hepatocellular Carcinoma: Future Perspectives.Advances in experimental medicine and biology · 2020Review
- Assessment of telomerase as drug target in breast cancer.Journal of biosciences · 2020Review
- Review
- Telomeres and Telomerase in Cutaneous Squamous Cell Carcinoma.International journal of molecular sciences · 2019Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
7 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Telomerase and its core component, telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT), are critical for stem cell compartment integrity. Normal adult stem cells have the longest telomeres in a given tissue, a property mediated by high hTERT expression and high telomerase enzymatic activity. In contrast, cancer stem cells (CSCs) have short telomeres despite high expression of hTERT, indicating that the role of hTERT in CSCs is not limited to telomere elongation and/or maintenance. The function of hTERT in CSCs remains poorly understood. Here, we knocked down hTERT expression in CSCs and observed a morphological shift to a more epithelial phenotype, suggesting a role for hTERT in the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) of CSCs. Therefore, in this study, we systematically explored the relationship between hTERT and EMT and identified a reciprocal, bi-directional feedback loop between hTERT and EMT in CSCs. We found that hTERT expression is mutually exclusive to the mesenchymal phenotype and that, reciprocally, loss of the mesenchymal phenotype represses hTERT expression. We also showed that hTERT plays a critical role in the expression of key CSC markers and nuclear β-catenin localization, increases the percentage of cells with side-population properties, and upregulates the CD133 expression. hTERT also promotes chemoresistance properties, tumorsphere formation and other important functional CSC properties. Subsequently, hTERT knockdown leads to the loss of the above advantages, indicating a loss of CSC properties. Our findings suggest that targeting hTERT might improve CSCs elimination by transitioning them from the aggressive mesenchymal state to a more steady epithelial state, thereby preventing cancer progression.
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Registered trials
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