Telomerase beyond telomeres.
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.
Blasco
María A
MA
Department of Immunology and Oncology, National Centre of Biotechnology, E-28049 Madrid, Spain. mblasco@cnb.uam.es
D000818:Animals; D002455:Cell Division; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology; D019098:Telomerase; D016615:Telomere
D019098:Telomerase