The transcription factor GABP selectively binds and activates the mutant TERT promoter in cancer

Abstract

A mutant promoter's partner in crime Telomerase is an enzyme that maintains the ends of chromosomes. TERT , the gene coding for the enzyme's catalytic subunit, is not expressed in healthy somatic cells, but its expression is reactivated in the majority of human cancers. The resultant high levels of telomerase help cancer cells survive and multiply. Recurrent mutations in the promoter region of TERT are associated with high telomerase levels in multiple cancer types. Bell et al. show that a specific transcription factor called GABP is selectively recruited to the mutant form of the TERT promoter, which activates TERT gene expression Science , this issue p. 1036