Increased epidermal tumors and increased skin wound healing in transgenic mice overexpressing the catalytic subunit of telomerase, mTERT, in basal keratinocytes

• Published in: The EMBO journal Vol. 20; no. 11; pp. 2619 - 2630
• Main Authors: González-Suárez, Eva, Samper, Enrique, Ramírez, Angel, Flores, Juana M., Martín-Caballero, Juan, Jorcano, José L., Blasco, María A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Chichester, UK John Wiley & Sons, Ltd 01-06-2001; Blackwell Publishing Ltd; Oxford University Press
• Subjects: 9,10-Dimethyl-1,2-benzanthracene - toxicity; Animals; Carcinogenesis; Catalytic Domain; Cattle; DNA-Binding Proteins; Epidermis; epithelial tumors; Esters; Female; Gastric Mucosa - drug effects; Gastric Mucosa - pathology; gene therapy; Genes, p53; Genetic Therapy; Hyperplasia; Keratinocytes - cytology; Keratinocytes - physiology; Keratins - genetics; Mice; Mice, Knockout; Mice, Transgenic; Mouth Mucosa - drug effects; Mouth Mucosa - pathology; mTERT; Neoplasms, Experimental - chemically induced; Neoplasms, Experimental - pathology; Papilloma - chemically induced; Papilloma - pathology; Papilloma - therapy; Protein Subunits; RNA; Skin - drug effects; Skin - injuries; Skin - pathology; skin carcinogenesis; Skin Neoplasms - chemically induced; Skin Neoplasms - pathology; Skin Neoplasms - therapy; Stomach - drug effects; Stomach - pathology; Telomerase - genetics; Telomerase - metabolism; telomerase-transgenic mouse; Telomere - physiology; Telomere - ultrastructure; Tetradecanoylphorbol Acetate - toxicity; Vagina - drug effects; Vagina - pathology; Wound Healing
• ISSN: 0261-4189; 1460-2075; 1460-2075
• DOI: 10.1093/emboj/20.11.2619

Telomerase transgenics are an important tool to assess the role of telomerase in cancer, as well as to evaluate the potential use of telomerase for gene therapy of age‐associated diseases. Here, we have targeted the expression of the catalytic component of mouse telomerase, mTERT, to basal keratinocytes using the bovine keratin 5 promoter. These telomerase‐transgenic mice are viable and show histologically normal stratified epithelia with high levels of telomerase activity and normal telomere length. Interestingly, the epidermis of these mice is highly responsive to the mitogenic effects of phorbol esters, and it is more susceptible than that of wild‐type littermates to the development skin tumors upon chemical carcinogenesis. The epidermis of telomerase‐transgenic mice also shows an increased wound‐healing rate compared with wild‐type littermates. These results suggest that, contrary to the general assumption, telomerase actively promotes proliferation in cells that have sufficiently long telomeres and unravel potential risks of gene therapy for age‐associated diseases based on telomerase upregulation.