Abstract: To gain better understanding of telomerase's possible role in the carcinogenesis of gestational trophoblastic tumors, the authors conducted RT-PCR amplification-based analysis and carried out telomeric repeat amplification to determine the levels of the human telomerase RNA (hTR) and that of telomerase enzymatic activity itself in 43 normal human placental tissues, 35 gestational trophoblastic tumor tissues and three choriocarcinoma cell lines. hTR was expressed in malignant gestational trophoblastic tumor tissues as well as choriocarcinoma cell lines. The results showed that hTR of early placenta villi and a part of hydatidiform mole were positive. But relatively low levels of the hTR could be found in placental tissues. Telomerase enzymatic activity was strongly positive in 32 of the 35 (91.4%) gestational trophoblastic tumor tissues and all the three choriocarcinoma cell lines. The enzymatic activity of telomerase itself was detectable at relatively low lelves in 14 of the 21 (66.7%) early placental villi, only three of the 22(13.6%) term placenta were weakly positive. These results suggest that telomerase activity may be correlated with the development of trophoblastic tumors, and so, may be a useful diagnostic marker for detecting the existence of malignant trophoblastic cells.

Key words: telomerase; RNA; trophoblast; tumor;placenta

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