title: Tert expression and telomerase activity in gonads and somatic cells of the Japanese medaka (Oryzias latipes).
abstract: A telomerase reverse transcriptase (Tert) encoding gene was cloned from the testis of the teleost fish Oryzias latipes. The expression pattern of Japanese medaka tert (Ola_tert) was analyzed by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction and in situ hybridization. Ola_tert was expressed in embryonic stages as well as in differentiated adult tissues. In tissues of adult medakas the highest tert expression was found in gonads and brain. Furthermore, two different splice variants were described and an Ola_tert antisense transcript was identified. The enzyme activity of Tert was determined using a non-radioactive telomeric amplification protocol and the telomerase activity in various tissues was shown to correlate with the tert expression. The telomerase activity was found to be high in contrast to the generally low activity in differentiated human tissues.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Zoology, TU Dresden, D-01062 Dresden, Germany.
authors.forename: Frank
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Pfennig
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Kind
authors.forename: Freia
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Zieschang
authors.forename: Matthias
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Busch
authors.forename: Herwig O
authors.initials: HO
authors.lastname: Gutzeit
mesh_terms: D017398:Alternative Splicing; D020816:Amino Acid Motifs; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000201:enzymology*; D005260:Female; D015971:Gene Expression Regulation, Enzymologic; D007527:Isoenzymes / Q000235:genetics; D008297:Male; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009206:Myocardium / Q000201:enzymology; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000032:analysis / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics; D009928:Organ Specificity; D009990:Oryzias / Q000196:embryology / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism*; D016372:RNA, Antisense / Q000032:analysis / Q000235:genetics; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D019098:Telomerase / Q000032:analysis / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000235:genetics; D013737:Testis / Q000201:enzymology*
chemical_list: D007527:Isoenzymes; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; D016372:RNA, Antisense; D019098:Telomerase