EXPRESSION OF TELOMERASE RNA, TELOMERASE ACTIVITY, AND TELOMERE LENGTH IN HUMAN GLIOMAS

To understand the mechanisms of telomere maintenance in human gliomas, telomerase activity, telomerase RNA expression and telomere length of surgically excised glioma samples were analyzed, Sixty-five percent o f gliomas exhibited telomerase activity, the occurrence of which was n ot related to their histological malignancy scale, Not only the telome rase-positive gliomas, but also the telomerase-negative gliomas and no rmal brain expressed telomerase RNA, suggesting that the presence of t elomerase RNA component does not indicate the presence of telomerase a ctivity, Compared with telomerase-positive gliomas, telomerase-negativ e gliomas had long heterogeneous telomeric terminal restriction fragme nts, These data suggest that in addition to the telomerase-dependent m echanism, a telomerase-independent mechanism for telomere maintenance may he present in human gliomas. (C) 1997 Academic Press.