Purpose: To investigate the effects on telomerase activity, human telomerase reverse transcriptase(hTERT) gene and TEP1mRNA of retinal pigment epithelial(RPE) cells were treated by TGF-beta 1 of different concentration.
Methods: The cultured human RPE cells were treated with TGF-beta 1 at different concentration (0 ng/ml, 0.01 ng/ml, 0.1 ng/ml, 1 ng/ml, 10 ng/ml) for 24 h, then telomerase activity was detected by telomerase repeat amplification protocol (TRAP). The expression of hTERT mRNA and TEP-1mRNA were detected by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR).
Results: TRAP and RT-PCR showed when the concentration of TGF-beta 1 was gradually increased, telomerase activity and the expression of hTERTmRNA were gradually reduced, TEP1mRNA showed no apparent differential expression.
Conclusion: TGF-beta 1 can down-regulate telomerase activity and the expression of hTERT mRNA, but no effection on TEP-1mRNA, hTERTmRNA expression was in accordance with telomerase activity in hRPE cells, hTERT gene plays a crucial role in the expression of telomerase activity, while TEP1 plays a much smaller role.