Interference with telomerase and telomere maintenance is emerging as an attractive target for antitumor therapies. Ligands
stabilizing G-quadruplexes have the potential to interfere with telomere replication by blocking the elongation of telomeres
in tumors. Here, we report that long-term treatment with triethylene tetramine (TETA), at 50 or 100 μM, induced marked cellular
senescence phenotypes accompanied by increased time of population doubling of MCF-7 cells. Cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitors,
including p53 and p21, were also upregulated in TETA-treated MCF-7 cells. TETA is therefore as novel ligand of G-quadruplex
and can induce tumor senescence; it is a promising material for tumor treatment.
Keywords Quadruplex - Senescence - Triethylene tetramine
Guo Lixia and Yin Fei equally contributed to this work.