Part:BBa_K1699001

Human short TERT promoter

Human short TERT promoter.

hTERT (human Telomerase Reverse Transcriptase) is a human promoter which controls the transcription of Telomerase, a gene highly expressed in cancer cells, and not in healthy ones (1).

Usage and Biology

hTERT promotes the transcription of the catalytic subunit of telomerase. Telomerase elognates the ends of chromosomes, regions called telomers. hTERT is not active in somatic cells and appears to be highly active in most if not all cancer cells, therefor, cells that will express an exogenic gene under hTERT are likely to be cancerous. We have used this promoter as part of a two promoter system, in order to detect whether a cell was a cancer cell.

Characterization

This part was used by BGU 2015 team in a couple of constructs. Promoter activation worked in all of them.
1. hTERT GFP - robust transcription of GFP in all HepG2 cells. None detected in control (human fibroblasts).
2. hTERT dCas9-VP64 - activation system including gRNA under survivin promoter. Activation system worked in cancer cells and not in healthy ones.

Sequence and Features

Assembly Compatibility:

• 10
  COMPATIBLE WITH RFC[10]
• 12
  COMPATIBLE WITH RFC[12]
• 21
  COMPATIBLE WITH RFC[21]
• 23
  COMPATIBLE WITH RFC[23]
• 25
  COMPATIBLE WITH RFC[25]
• 1000
  COMPATIBLE WITH RFC[1000]