Abstract
Overexpression of human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) has facilitated establishing in vitro model systems for biological research. The plasmid containing hTERT gene was stably transfected into ULTR cells, a retroviral transformed human uterine leiomyomatous smooth-muscle cell line. Cells that express hTERT, termed as ULTR-hT, shared the morphological characteristics of the parental proliferative ULTR cells. They expressed a set of smooth-muscle-specific genes and had increased proliferation rate and prolonged lifespan. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis revealed a correlation of proliferation rates of ULTR-hT clonal cells with the level of hTERT expression. ULTRhT cells also preserved expression of estrogen, progesterone, and oxytocin receptor genes, confirming a myometrial phenotype. Expression of angiotensin II receptors and nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH) oxidase isoforms were also preserved. Our finding suggests that ULTR-hT cells can be a useful in vitro model for studying human myometrium differentiation both in pregnancy and pathological growth.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 1062-1071 |
Number of pages | 10 |
Journal | Reproductive Sciences |
Volume | 16 |
Issue number | 11 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Nov 2009 |
Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- In vitro cell model
- Proliferation
- Telomerase
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Obstetrics and Gynecology