Abstract
Telomerase activity is thought to be crucial for the sustained growth or progression of most cancer cells, and its activation is an important step in carcinogenesis. Recently, three major subunits of human telomerase, h TR, h TEP1 and h TERT, have been identified. In this study, we quantified the m RNA expression of these telomerase subunits in oral tissues by RT PCR and evaluated the correlation between expression and telomerase activity. Telomerase activity was detected in oralleukoplakia (75%) and oral squamous cell carcinoma (SCC)(66.7%). Expression of both h TEP1 and h TR was detected in all tissue samples tested, including normal gingiva. In contrast, h TERT expression was detected in 12 of 22 (54.5%) oral leukoplakia and SCC samples and was negative in normal gingiva samples. In addition, expression of h TERT well correlated with telomerase activity. Detection of h TERTexpression in oral lesions might be a diagnostic biomarker of leukoplakia or oral cancer.
