IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/natcom/v3y2012i1d10.1038_ncomms2091.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Insights into the biomedical effects of carboxylated single-wall carbon nanotubes on telomerase and telomeres

Author

Listed:
  • Yong Chen

    (State Key Laboratory of Rare Earth Resource Utilization, Laboratory of Chemical Biology, Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Graduate School of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences
    College of Life Science, Jilin University)

  • Konggang Qu

    (State Key Laboratory of Rare Earth Resource Utilization, Laboratory of Chemical Biology, Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Graduate School of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences)

  • Chuanqi Zhao

    (State Key Laboratory of Rare Earth Resource Utilization, Laboratory of Chemical Biology, Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Graduate School of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences)

  • Li Wu

    (State Key Laboratory of Rare Earth Resource Utilization, Laboratory of Chemical Biology, Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Graduate School of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences)

  • Jinsong Ren

    (State Key Laboratory of Rare Earth Resource Utilization, Laboratory of Chemical Biology, Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Graduate School of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences)

  • Jiasi Wang

    (State Key Laboratory of Rare Earth Resource Utilization, Laboratory of Chemical Biology, Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Graduate School of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences)

  • Xiaogang Qu

    (State Key Laboratory of Rare Earth Resource Utilization, Laboratory of Chemical Biology, Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Graduate School of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences)

Abstract

Both human telomeric G-rich and C-rich DNA have been considered as specific drug targets for cancer therapy. However, due to i-motif structure instability and lack of specific binding agents, it remains unclear whether stabilization of telomeric i-motif can inhibit telomerase activity. Single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) have been reported as the first ligand that can selectively stabilize human telomeric i-motif DNA. Here we report that SWNTs can inhibit telomerase activity through stabilization of i-motif structure. The persistence of i-motif and the concomitant G-quadruplex eventually leads to telomere uncapping and displaces telomere-binding proteins from telomere. The dysfunctional telomere triggers DNA damage response and elicits upregulation of p16 and p21 proteins. This is the first example that SWNTs can inhibit telomerase activity and interfere with the telomere functions in cancer cells. These results provide new insights into understanding the biomedical effects of SWNTs and the biological importance of i-motif DNA.

Suggested Citation

  • Yong Chen & Konggang Qu & Chuanqi Zhao & Li Wu & Jinsong Ren & Jiasi Wang & Xiaogang Qu, 2012. "Insights into the biomedical effects of carboxylated single-wall carbon nanotubes on telomerase and telomeres," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 3(1), pages 1-13, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:3:y:2012:i:1:d:10.1038_ncomms2091
    DOI: 10.1038/ncomms2091
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms2091
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/ncomms2091?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Zhijing Yu & Wei Wang & Yong Zhu & Wei-Li Song & Zheng Huang & Zhe Wang & Shuqiang Jiao, 2023. "Construction of double reaction zones for long-life quasi-solid aluminum-ion batteries by realizing maximum electron transfer," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-11, December.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:3:y:2012:i:1:d:10.1038_ncomms2091. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.