Expression of human telomerase reverse transcriptase in lymphangioleiomyomatosis.

Telomerase synthesizes nucleotide hexameric repeats (telomeres) at the ends of chromosomes, replacing base sequences that are lost from these sites during each mitotic cycle and protecting these ends against the action of exonucleases and ligases. Therefore, telomerase is essential for maintaining cellular replication. To evaluate the role of telomerase in the proliferation of abnormal smooth muscle cells (lymphangioleiomyomatosis [LAM] cells) in LAM, we performed immunostaining and in situ hybridization studies to identify telomerase protein and messenger RNA (mRNA), respectively, in pulmonary (n = 18) and extrapulmonary (n = 4) lesions from 22 women with LAM (14 untreated and 8 treated with progesterone or tamoxifen). Immunoreactivity and hybridization signals for telomerase were observed in 5 to 20% of LAM cells, mostly of the spindle-shaped type, in 21 of the 22 patients, and were less intense in the treated group. Other types of cells were unreactive in both groups. Telomerase colocalized in the same cells with alpha-smooth muscle actin, but only rarely with HMB-45 antibody (a marker for epithelioid LAM cells); colocalization with proliferating cell nuclear antigen was incomplete. The telomerase-positive LAM cells may constitute the sources of renewal of LAM cells. Modulation of telomerase may be involved in the control of LAM cell proliferation.