Inhibition of Human Tumor Cell Proliferation by the Telomerase Inhibitor TELIN

TELIN, a newly developed catalytic blocker of telomerase, was assessed for its antiproliferative activity against human tumor cells in in vitro cell culture assay. TELIN suppressed cell proliferations of several blood tumor cells with telomere shortening and the appearance of apoptotic small cells, but did not affect hTERT mRNA expression, suggesting that TELIN catalytically inhibited telomerase activity within the cells. TELIN also suppressed cell proliferation of adherent tumor cells, whereas it did not affect the growth of normal fibroblasts. Delivery efficiency of TELIN was significantly different between several delivery carriers, and β-cyclodextrin was found to be a suitable carrier.