Human chromosome 3p21.3 carries TERT transcriptional regulators in pancreatic cancer.

Frequent loss of heterozygosity (LOH) on the short arm of human chromosome 3 (3p) region has been found in pancreatic cancer (PC), which suggests the likely presence of tumor suppressor genes in this region. However, the functional significance of LOH in this region in the development of PC has not been clearly defined. The human telomerase reverse transcriptase gene (hTERT) contributes to unlimited proliferative and tumorigenicity of malignant tumors. We previously demonstrated that hTERT expression was suppressed by the introduction of human chromosome 3 in several cancer cell lines. To examine the functional role of putative TERT suppressor genes on chromosome 3 in PC, we introduced an intact human chromosome 3 into the human PK9 and murine LTPA PC cell lines using microcell-mediated chromosome transfer. PK9 microcell hybrids with an introduced human chromosome 3 showed significant morphological changes and rapid growth arrest. Intriguingly, microcell hybrid clones of LTPA cells with an introduced human chromosome 3 (LTPA#3) showed suppression of mTert transcription, cell proliferation, and invasion compared with LTPA#4 cells containing human chromosome 4 and parental LTPA cells. Additionally, the promoter activity of mTert was downregulated in LTPA#3. Furthermore, we confirmed that TERT regulatory gene(s) are present in the 3p21.3 region by transfer of truncated chromosomes at arbitrary regions. These results provide important information on the functional significance of the LOH at 3p for development and progression of PC.