Increase in telomere sequence-binding activity in normal human fibroblasts in senescence or in cells treated with phorbol ester or N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine.

Abstract

The telomere is a specialized chromatin structure composed of unique repetitive DNA sequences and specific nuclear proteins. Telomere sequence-binding activity was measured by a mobility shift assay using nuclear extract from normal human fibroblasts. The specific binding activity to the telomere sequence increased in cells that were in a senescence state compared to that in cells at early population doublings. Treatment of cells with tumor promoting phorbol ester TPA induced an increase in the telomere sequence binding activity of nuclear extract in young cells, but the increase was marginal in senescent cells. DNA-damaging N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine (MNNG) also increased the telomere sequence binding activity in young cells, but not in senescent cells. As a reference, we measured the binding activity to NFkB sequence. It was activated by TPA or okadaic acid, but was not affected by MNNG or in senescence. The increase in telomere sequence-binding activity seemed to depend on activation of tyrosine phosphorylation, since an inhibitor of Tyr-kinase abolished the increase in telomere-binding activity. The molecular weight of the major binding factor in the normal human fibroblasts was approximately 32 kDa which is different from that of the telomere-associated protein, TRF-1.