Dual mechanisms for telomerase inhibition in DLD-1 human colorectal adenocarcinoma cells by polyunsaturated fatty acids

Issue title: The Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Food Factors (ICoFF 03)

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Eitsuka, Takahiro | Nakagawa, Kiyotaka | Miyazawa, Teruo

Affiliations: Food & Biodynamic Chemistry Laboratory, Graduate School of Life Science and Agriculture, Tohoku University, Sendai 981-8555, Japan

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Abstract: Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) have been reported to have antitumor activity. In this study, we have tested whether telomerase might be a target for the antitumor effect of fatty acids using DLD-1 colorectal adenocarcinoma cells. In a cell-free approach, fatty acids were added directly to cell lysates, and we confirmed that increasing fatty acid unsaturation correlates with increased inhibition of telomerase activity. Using a cell culture approach, DLD-1 cells were cultured with fatty acids. In a time and dose dependent manner, EPA and DHA suppressed cellular telomerase activity and the mRNAs encoding hTERT (human telomerase reverse transcriptase) and c-myc. Based on these observations, we suggest that PUFAs inhibit telomerase activity through dual mechanisms: direct inhibition of enzymatic activity and down regulation of hTERT, one of the telomerase components.

Keywords: polyunsaturated fatty acids, telomerase inhibition, antitumor activity, hTERT, c-myc

Journal: BioFactors, vol. 21, no. 1-4, pp. 19-21, 2004