Telomerase and telomere inhibitors in preclinical development.
Telomerase is an enzyme required by actively dividing cells to maintain the ends of chromosomes (telomeres). It is present in germline tissue, stem cells and cancer cells, but is repressed in somatic cells. Efforts are underway to exploit this selective expression of telomerase in cancer therapeutics. This review describes the status of telomerase research, which although at present predominantly preclinical, has the potential to enter clinical research.
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Institute for Drug Development, Cancer Therapy and Research Center, 14960 Omicron Drive, San Antonio, TX 78245, USA.
Raymond
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Soda
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Von Hoff
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