Inducible activation of IFI 16 results in suppression of telomerase activity, growth suppression and induction of cellular senescence

Abstract

Expression of the human HIN-200 family member IFI 16 has been reported to suppress cell growth and contribute to the onset of cellular senescence. However the molecular events involved in this process have not been fully characterised. We fused IFI 16 to the estrogen receptor ligand-binding domain to establish an inducible model for studying the molecular events that cause these phenomena. In cells induced to express the ER-IFI 16 within the nucleus there was a decrease in cellular proliferation and concomitant growth arrest in the G1 phase of the cell cycle. Unlike previous reports, this did not appear to involve the p53-p21WAF1/CIP1-cdk2-pRb pathway. Following nuclear expression of ER-IFI ..