Abstract
Human telomerase reverse transcriptase, hTERT, is the catalytic component of human telomerase. Expression of hTERT confers telomerase activity, indicating that hTERT is the rate-limiting component of human telomerase. Here we report the detection of anti-hTERT auto-antibodies in the sera derived patients with hepatocellular carcinoma using recombinant, purified hTERT as an antigen in an enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The levels of anti-hTERT antibodies in serum correlated with progression to hepatocellular carcinoma. In contrast, we detected only low levels of anti-hTERT auto-antibodies in the sera derived from 18 normal volunteers. The observation of hTERT auto-antibodies in the sera derived from cancer patients suggests that such auto-antibodies constitute novel and specific tumor marker.
MeSH terms
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Adult
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Aged
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Aged, 80 and over
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Autoantibodies / blood*
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Blotting, Western
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Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / blood
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Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / enzymology
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Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / immunology*
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DNA-Binding Proteins
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Disease Progression
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Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay
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Hepatitis, Chronic / blood
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Hepatitis, Chronic / enzymology
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Hepatitis, Chronic / immunology
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Humans
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Immune Sera
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Liver Cirrhosis / blood
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Liver Cirrhosis / enzymology
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Liver Cirrhosis / immunology
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Liver Neoplasms / blood
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Liver Neoplasms / enzymology
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Liver Neoplasms / immunology*
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Middle Aged
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Predictive Value of Tests
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Recombinant Proteins / genetics
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Recombinant Proteins / immunology
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Reference Values
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Telomerase / blood*
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Telomerase / genetics
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Telomerase / immunology*
Substances
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Autoantibodies
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DNA-Binding Proteins
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Immune Sera
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Recombinant Proteins
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Telomerase