Telomere-related components are coordinately synthesized during human T-lymphocyte activation

Since telomerase activity is present in most malignant cells, but absent in most normal cells, its induction in normal cells warrants scrutiny. Theref ore we have analyzed the inducibility of telomere-related components in nor mal lymphocytes during their activation. Telomerase activity increased over 400-fold, telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) mRNA 52 x ? telomerase RNA 32 x,TTAGGG repeat binding factor 1 mRNA 19 x, TTAGGG repeat binding fa ctor 2 mRNA 20 x, and telomerase-associated protein mRNA 17 x. The peak val ue for each was reached at about 72 h. However hTERT rose fastest and synch ronously with telomerase activity. Thus in normal human lymphocytes (1) the syntheses of all cloned telomerase-related components are coordinately reg ulated and (2) hTERT may have a priming role. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd . All rights reserved.