GABP determines the epigenetic status of mutant TERT promoter

Blocking telomerase is recognized as a key anti-cancer mechanism. Unlike in stem cells, levels of telomerase catalytic subunit TERT are limiting in reconstituting telomerase activity in somatic cells. However in some cancers, Tert is transcriptionally reactivated by mutations in its promoter. Given that Tert in stem cells is driven by WT Tert promoter, if we can selectively target Tert reactivation through mutant Tert promoters we can block telomerase activity specifically in cancer cells without toxicity in stem cells. Here we report the epigenetic regulation of Tert promoter comparing WT and mutant promoters. We showed that GABPA homodimerization through long-range interaction stabilizes Gabpa to drive Tert expression. Furthermore, BRD4 specifically activates the C250T mutant promoter via dual mechanism involving GABPA, thereby setting the stage for future therapeutics. Overall design: We examine 2 biological replicates of each sample including BLM, A375, BLM6 (Crispr-Tert mutant promoter C250T) and BLM14 (Crispr-Tert WT promoter C250C )