title: The activity of human telomerase in the cells of acute leukaemias.
abstract: Telomeres are the end fragments of chromosomes formed by a number of non-coding double-stranded TTAGGG repeats in vertebrates. During cell division the number of repeats decreases, leading to cell senescence or apoptosis. In immortal cells, including cancer cells, the telomere length is stable and maintained by, among other factors, telomerase. The aim of the study is to compare telomerase activity in normal lymphocytes and in leukaemic cells. Samples of acute leukaemia cells, HL 60 cell line and the lymphocytes of healthy volunteers were examined. Telomerase analysis was performed using TeloTAGGG Telomerase PCR ELISAplus (Roche). The relative telomerase activities (RTA) in leukaemic and normal cells were analysed. A high level of RTA was observed in leukaemic cells.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Genetics, Medical University, Lublin, Poland. janusz.kocki@inetia.pl
authors.forename: Janusz
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kocki
authors.forename: Joanna
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kolano
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cioch
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Dmoszyńska
authors.forename: Jacek
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wojcierowski
mesh_terms: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000378:metabolism; D018922:HL-60 Cells / Q000201:enzymology; D006801:Humans; D015473:Leukemia, Promyelocytic, Acute / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000473:pathology; D008214:Lymphocytes / Q000201:enzymology; D019098:Telomerase / Q000378:metabolism*; D016615:Telomere / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D019098:Telomerase