[Telomerase and cancer].
Telomeres progressively shorten with age in somatic cells in culture and in vivo because DNA replication results the loss of sequence at the 5' ends of double-stranded DNA. Whereas normal somatic cells do not express the enzyme, telomerase, which adds repeated telomere sequences to chromosome ends, telomerase activity is detected in immortalized and tumor cells in vitro and in tumor tissues. This represents an important difference between normal cells and cancer cells, indicating that the telomerase activity and/or expression profiles of telomerase components are useful markers for cancer biology and detection.
Oshimura
M
M
Department of Molecular & Cell Genetics, School of Life Sciences, Tottori University.
D006801:Humans; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000201:enzymology*; D019098:Telomerase / Q000378:metabolism*
D019098:Telomerase