title: Telomerase beyond telomeres.
abstract: The role of telomerase in actively proliferating cells is assumed to be restricted to maintaining of telomeres above a minimum-length threshold, thereby preventing telomere exhaustion and chromosomal instability. However, forced telomerase expression in cells and mice with normal-length telomeres has shown that telomerase promotes growth and survival in a manner that is uncoupled from net telomere lengthening. These findings imply that telomerase might have a fundamental role in tumour growth and survival, even at stages when telomeres are sufficiently long.
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunology and Oncology, National Centre of Biotechnology, E-28049 Madrid, Spain. mblasco@cnb.uam.es
authors.forename: María A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Blasco
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002455:Cell Division; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology; D019098:Telomerase; D016615:Telomere
chemical_list: D019098:Telomerase