Preprint Review Version 1 Preserved in Portico This version is not peer-reviewed

The Molecular Interplay between Human Oncoviruses and Telomerase in Cancer Development

Maria Lina Tornesello
* ORCID logo ,
Andrea Cerasuolo
ORCID logo ,
Noemy Starita
,
Anna Lucia Tornesello
ORCID logo ,
Patrizia Bonelli
ORCID logo ,
Franca Maria Tuccillo
ORCID logo ,
Luigi Buonaguro
,
Maria G Isaguliants
ORCID logo ,
Franco M. Buonaguro
Version 1 : Received: 28 September 2022 / Approved: 30 September 2022 / Online: 30 September 2022 (10:11:58 CEST)

A peer-reviewed article of this Preprint also exists.

Tornesello, M.L.; Cerasuolo, A.; Starita, N.; Tornesello, A.L.; Bonelli, P.; Tuccillo, F.M.; Buonaguro, L.; Isaguliants, M.G.; Buonaguro, F.M. The Molecular Interplay between Human Oncoviruses and Telomerase in Cancer Development. Cancers 2022, 14, 5257. Tornesello, M.L.; Cerasuolo, A.; Starita, N.; Tornesello, A.L.; Bonelli, P.; Tuccillo, F.M.; Buonaguro, L.; Isaguliants, M.G.; Buonaguro, F.M. The Molecular Interplay between Human Oncoviruses and Telomerase in Cancer Development. Cancers 2022, 14, 5257.

Abstract

Human oncoviruses are able to subvert telomerase function in cancer cells through multiple strategies. The activity of the catalytic subunit of telomerase (TERT) is commonly enhanced in virus-related cancers. Viral oncoproteins, such as high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV) E6, Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) LMP1, Kaposi sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (HHV-8) LANA, hepatitis B virus (HBV) HBVx, hepatitis C virus (HCV) core protein and human T-cell leukemia virus-1 (HTLV-1) tax protein, interact with regulatory elements in the infected cells and contribute to the transcriptional activation of TERT gene. Specifically, viral oncoproteins have been shown to bind TERT promoter, to induce post-transcriptional alterations of TERT mRNA and to cause epigenetic modifications, which have important effects on the regulation of telomeric and extra-telomeric functions of the telomerase. Other viruses, such as herpesviruses, operate by integrating their genomes within the telomeres or by inducing alternative lengthening of telomeres (ALT) in non-ALT cells. In this review, we recapitulate recent findings on virus-telomerase/telomeres interplay and the importance of TERT-related oncogenic pathways activated by cancer causing viruses.

Keywords

Telomerase reverse transcriptase; TERT; TERT promoter; TERTp; human papillomavirus; HPV; Epstein Barr virus (EBV); Kaposi sarcoma-associated herpesvirus; HHV-8; hepatitis B virus; HBV; hepatitis C virus; HCV; human T-cell leukemia virus-1; HTLV-1

Subject

Medicine and Pharmacology, Oncology and Oncogenics

Copyright: This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Download PDF

Comments (0)

We encourage comments and feedback from a broad range of readers. See criteria for comments and our Diversity statement.

Leave a public comment
Send a private comment to the author(s)
* All users must log in before leaving a comment
Views 0
Downloads 0
Comments 0
Get PDF Cite Share 0
Bookmark BibSonomy Mendeley Reddit Delicious
×
Alerts
Notify me about updates to this article or when a peer-reviewed version is published.
We use cookies on our website to ensure you get the best experience.
Read more about our cookies here.