Genetic regulation of TERT splicing contributes to reduced or elevated cancer risk by altering cellular longevity and replicative potential

The chromosome 5p15.33 region, which encodes telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT), harbors multiple germline variants identified by genome-wide association studies (GWAS) as risk for some cancers but protective for others. We characterized a variable number tandem repeat within TERT intron 6 (VNTR6-1, 38-bp repeat unit) and observed a strong association between VNTR6-1 alleles (Short: 24-27 repeats, Long: 40.5-66.5 repeats) and GWAS signals within TERT intron 4. Specifically, VNTR6-1 fully explained the GWAS signals for rs2242652 and partially for rs10069690. VNTR6-1, rs10069690 and their haplotypes were associated with multi-cancer risk and age-related telomere shortening. Both variants reduce TERT expression through alternative splicing and nonsense-mediated decay: rs10069690-T increases intron 4 retention and VNTR6-1-Long expands a polymorphic G quadruplex (G4, 35-113 copies) within intron 6. Treatment with G4-stabilizing ligands decreased the fraction of the functional telomerase-encoding TERT full-length isoform, whereas CRISPR/Cas9 deletion of VNTR6-1 increased this fraction and apoptosis while reducing cell proliferation. Thus, VNTR6-1 and rs10069690 regulate the expression and splicing of TERT transcripts encoding both functional and nonfunctional telomerase. Altered TERT isoform ratios might modulate cellular longevity and replicative potential at homeostasis and in response to environmental factors, thus selectively contributing to the reduced or elevated cancer risk conferred by this locus.