Studying progress of hTERT transcriptional regulation

Human cancer cells is immortal cell, which is associated with telomere maintenance by telomerase. The transcriptional regulation of the human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) gene is a major mechanism that negatively and positively controls telomerase activity in normal and cancer cells,respectively. The cellular and viral factors and pathways involved in cell senescence, immortalization and carcinogenesis act on the hTERT promoter. The activity of the hTERT promoter is regulated, either directly or through signaling pathways, by oncogene products and tumor suppressor proteins. The integration of viral genomes in the hTERT locus can lead to hTERT activation and telomerase induction.