Cloning and molecular characterization of telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) and telomere length analysis of Peromyscus leucopus

• Published in: Gene 2015-08, Vol.568 (1), p.8-18
• Main Authors: Zhao, Xin, Ueda, Yasutaka, Kajigaya, Sachiko, Alaks, Glen, Desierto, Marie J., Townsley, Danielle M., Dumitriu, Bogdan, Chen, Jichun, Lacy, Robert C., Young, Neal S.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: adults; Amino Acid Motifs; Amino Acid Sequence; amino acid sequences; animal models; Animals; Base Sequence; Cloning; Cloning, Molecular; Female; Gene Expression; hamsters; human diseases; humans; Large; Male; mice; molecular cloning; Molecular Sequence Data; Mus musculus; mutation; Organ Specificity; P0 (RPLP0); Peromyscus - genetics; Peromyscus leucopus; promoter regions; protein subunits; rats; Ribosomal protein; Sequence Analysis, DNA; sequence homology; Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; somatic cells; telomerase; Telomerase - chemistry; Telomerase - genetics; Telomerase - metabolism; Telomere - genetics; Telomere Homeostasis; telomeres; TERT mutation; testes; Testis - enzymology
• ISSN: 0378-1119; 1879-0038
• DOI: 10.1016/j.gene.2015.05.013

Telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) is the catalytic subunit of telomerase complex that regulates telomerase activity to maintain telomere length for all animals with linear chromosomes. As the Mus musculus (MM) laboratory mouse has very long telomeres compared to humans, a potential alternative animal model for telomere research is the Peromyscus leucopus (PL) mouse that has telomere lengths close to the human range and has the wild counterparts for comparison. We report the full TERT coding sequence (pTERT) from PL mice to use in the telomere research. Comparative analysis with eight other mammalian TERTs revealed a pTERT protein considerably homologous to other TERTs and preserved all TERT specific-sequence signatures, yet with some distinctive features. pTERT displayed the highest nucleotide and amino acid sequence homology with hamster TERT. Unlike human but similar to MM mice, pTERT expression was detected in various adult somatic tissues of PL mice, with the highest expression in testes. Four different captive stocks of PL mice and wild-captured PL mice each displayed group-specific average telomere lengths, with the longest and shortest telomeres in inbred and outbred stock mice, respectively. pTERT showed considerable numbers of synonymous and nonsynonymous mutations. A pTERT proximal promoter region cloned was homologous among PL and MM mice and rat, but with species-specific features. From PL mice, we further cloned and characterized ribosomal protein, large, P0 (pRPLP0) to use as an internal control for various assays. Peromyscus mice have been extensively used for various studies, including human diseases, for which pTERT and pRPLP0 would be useful tools. •The first cloning of the entire pTERT coding sequence from Peromyscus leucopus (PL)•The first cloning of the entire pRPLP0 coding sequence from PL mice•We reported characteristic features of pTERT and pRPLP0 sequences.•We analyzed pTERT expression, pTERT mutations, and telomere lengths of PL mice.•pTERT and pRPLP0 would be useful for various studies using Peromyscus mice.