Can inhibition of telomerase increase pancreatic cancer cells susceptibility to chemotherapeutic reagents?
Li-Song Teng and Thomas J. III Fahey From the Department of Oncological Surgery, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou 310003, China, Teng LS); the Department of Surgery, Cornell University Medical College, New York, NY, USA (Fahey TJ III) Correspondence: Li-Song Teng, MD (Tel: 86-0571-87236628; Fax: 86-0571-87236628; Email: lsteng@mail.hz.zj.cn) Objectives: To clarify the inhibition of pancreatic cancer cells by interference with the hTR component of the telomerase reverse transcriptase enzymatic complex and evaluate susceptibility of antisense hTR pancreatic cancer cellsto chemotherapeutic reagents. Methods: A 593 bp of full length hTR cDNA was subcloned into a mammalian expression vector pcDNA3.1(-) in antisense orientation to construct an antisense hTR expression plasmid. The plasmids were introduced into Pancl cells, a human pancreatic carcinoma cell line, by lipofectin, and G418-resistant stable transformants were expanded. Resulting stable clones were screened for the
