Telomerase reverse transcriptase regulates DNMT3B expression/aberrant DNA methylation phenotype and AKT activation in hepatocellular carcinoma

Telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT)1 acts as a master regulator of cancer hallmarks, but underlying mechanisms remain incompletely understood. We show that TERT is required for the aberrant DNA methyltransferase 3  B (DNMT3B)2 expression and cancer-specific methylation in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC)3, through which AKT is activated. TERT depletion inhibited, while its over-expression promoted DNMT3B expression in HCC cells, respectively. Mechanistically, TERT cooperates with the transcription factor Sp1 to stimulate DNMT3B transcription.

Source: Cancer Letters - July 12, 2018 Category: Cancer & Oncology Authors: Jingya Yu, Xiaotian Yuan, Louise Sj öholm, Tiantian Liu, Feng Kong, Tomas J. Ekström, Magnus Björkholm, Dawei Xu Tags: Original Articles Source Type: research