Human artificial chromosome carrying 3p21.3-p22.2 region suppresses hTERT transcription in oral cancer cells

Telomerase is a ribonucleoprotein ribonucleic enzyme that elongates telomere repeat sequences at the ends of chromosomes and contributes to cellular immortalization. The catalytic component of telomerase, human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT), has been observed to be reactivated in immortalized cells. Notably, most cancer cells have been found to have active hTERT mRNA transcription, resulting in continuous cell division, which is crucial for malignant transformation. Therefore, discovering mechanisms underlying the regulation of hTERT transcription is an attractive target for cancer-specific treatments. Loss of heterozygosity (LOH) of chromosome 3p21.3 has been frequently observed in human oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). Moreover, we previously reported that HSC3 OSCC microcell hybrid clones with an introduced human chromosome 3 (HSC3#3) showed inhibition of hTERT transcription compared with the parental HSC3 cells. This study examined whether hTERT transcription regulators are present in the 3p21.3 region. We constructed a human artificial chromosome (HAC) vector (3p21.3-HAC) with only the 3p21.3-p22.2 region and performed functional analysis using the 3p21.3-HAC. HSC3 microcell hybrid clones with an introduced 3p21.3-HAC exhibited significant suppression of hTERT transcription, similar to the microcell hybrid clones with an intact chromosome 3. In contrast, HSC3 clones with truncated chromosome 3 with deletion of the 3p21.3 region (3delp21.3) showed no effect on hTERT expression levels. These results provide direct evidence that hTERT suppressor gene(s) were retained in the 3p21.3 region, suggesting that the presence of regulatory factors that control telomerase enzyme activity may be involved in the development of OSCC. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10577-023-09726-8.