title: Telomerase in kinetoplastid parasitic protozoa.
abstract: We have identified telomerase activity in extracts of three evolutionarily diverse kinetoplastid species: Trypanosoma brucei, Leishmania major, and Leishmania tarentolae. Telomerase activity was initially detected in extracts from insect form cells of all three kinetoplastid species by using a modification of the one-tube telomere repeat amplification protocol [Kim, N., et al. (1994) Science 266, 2011-2015], although better results were subsequently achieved with the two-tube telomere repeat amplification protocol [Autexier, C., Pruzan, R., Funk, W. & Greider, C. (1996) EMBO J. 15, 5928-5935]. The activity in T. brucei extracts was sufficiently robust to enable its detection in a direct assay of telomerase; enzyme processivity was found to be relatively low. The in vitro properties of telomerase suggest a possible templating domain sequence for the telomerase RNA of T. brucei. Telomerase activity is likely to contribute to telomere maintenance in these parasitic organisms and provides a new target for chemotherapeutic intervention.
authors: Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94123, USA.
authors: M I
authors: MI
authors: Cano
authors: J M
authors: JM
authors: Dungan
authors: N
authors: N
authors: Agabian
authors: E H
authors: EH
authors: Blackburn
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D002852:Chromatography, Ion Exchange; D017931:DNA Primers; D004591:Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel; D007891:Leishmania / Q000201:enzymology*; D018320:Leishmania major / Q000201:enzymology*; D019098:Telomerase / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism*; D013698:Templates, Genetic; D014346:Trypanosoma brucei brucei / Q000201:enzymology*
chemical_list: D017931:DNA Primers; D019098:Telomerase