Objective: To investigate the expression of telomere restriction fragments (TRF) and telomerase activity in human primary gastric carcinoma tissues and their role in tumor transformation and progression.
Methods: The lengths of TRF and activity of telomerase were observed in 17 early gastric carcinoma tissues and 89 advanced gastric carcinoma tissues, using hybridization of nucleic acids directly in agarose gels and telomere repeat amplification protocol (TRAP) assays, corresponding normal gastric mucosa were used as controls.
Results: The TRF lengths and telomerase activity in gastric cancer tissues were significantly shorter or higher than those in non-tumor mucosa, and the expression of telomerase activity in abnormal TRF tumor tissues was significantly higher than that in normal TRF tumour tissues. Alterations of TRF and telomerase activity in advanced tumour tissues were higher than those in early tumor tissues. Moreover, significant differences in TRF length were observed between well differentiated and poorly differentiated adenocarcinomas.
Conclusion: Abnormal TRF status and telomerase reactivation may correlate well with malignant progression of gastric cancer. Telomerase activity and TRF lengths may thus serve as an important additional marker for tumor diagnosis.