Characterization of tree shrew telomeres and telomerase

Jian Sun; Wenjing Liu; Yongbo Guo; Hailin Zhang; Dewei Jiang; Ying Luo; Rong Liu; Ceshi Chen

doi:10.1016/j.jgg.2021.06.004

Characterization of tree shrew telomeres and telomerase

J Genet Genomics. 2021 Jul 20;48(7):631-639. doi: 10.1016/j.jgg.2021.06.004. Epub 2021 Jun 25.

Authors

Jian Sun¹, Wenjing Liu¹, Yongbo Guo², Hailin Zhang³, Dewei Jiang³, Ying Luo⁴, Rong Liu³, Ceshi Chen⁵

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory of Animal Models and Human Disease Mechanisms of Chinese Academy of Sciences & Yunnan Province, National Resource Center for Non-Human Primates, Kunming Primate Research Center, National Research Facility for Phenotypic & Genetic Analysis of Model Animals (Primate Facility), Kunming Institute of Zoology, Kunming, Yunnan 650201, China; Kunming College of Life Sciences, University of Chinese Academy Sciences, Kunming, Yunnan 650204, China.
² Kunming College of Life Sciences, University of Chinese Academy Sciences, Kunming, Yunnan 650204, China; State Key Laboratory of Genetic Resources and Evolution, Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, Yunnan 650223, China.
³ Key Laboratory of Animal Models and Human Disease Mechanisms of Chinese Academy of Sciences & Yunnan Province, National Resource Center for Non-Human Primates, Kunming Primate Research Center, National Research Facility for Phenotypic & Genetic Analysis of Model Animals (Primate Facility), Kunming Institute of Zoology, Kunming, Yunnan 650201, China.
⁴ Laboratory of Molecular Genetics of Aging & Tumor, Medical Faculty, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming, Yunnan 650500, China.
⁵ Key Laboratory of Animal Models and Human Disease Mechanisms of Chinese Academy of Sciences & Yunnan Province, National Resource Center for Non-Human Primates, Kunming Primate Research Center, National Research Facility for Phenotypic & Genetic Analysis of Model Animals (Primate Facility), Kunming Institute of Zoology, Kunming, Yunnan 650201, China. Electronic address: chenc@mail.kiz.ac.cn.

PMID: 34362683
DOI: 10.1016/j.jgg.2021.06.004

Abstract

The use of tree shrews as experimental animals for biomedical research is a new practice. Several recent studies suggest that tree shrews are suitable for studying cancers, including breast cancer, glioblastoma, lung cancer, and hepatocellular carcinoma. However, the telomeres and the telomerase of tree shrews have not been studied to date. Here, we characterize telomeres and telomerase in tree shrews. The telomere length of tree shrews is approximately 23 kb, which is longer than that of primates and shorter than that of mice, and it is extended in breast tumor tissues according to Southern blot and flow-fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) analyses. Tree shrew spleen, bone marrow, testis, ovary, and uterus show high telomerase activities, which are increased in breast tumor tissues by telomeric repeat amplification protocol assays. The telomere length becomes shorter, and telomerase activity decreases with age. The tree shrew TERT and TERC are more highly similar to primates than to rodents. These findings lay a solid foundation for using tree shrews to study aging and cancers.

Keywords: Breast cancer; TERC; TERT; Telomere; Tree shrews.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Telomerase*

Substances

Telomerase