title: Non-radioactive assay methods for the assessment of telomerase activity and telomere length.
abstract: The Telomeric repeat amplification protocol (TRAP) is a highly sensitive PCR-based assay and prove to be an important tool for understanding the role of telomerase in cancer and various tissues that harbors telomerase positive stem cells. This assay measures telomerase activity where the amount of target is dependent upon the activity of the enzyme. This protocol consists of two steps: first, telomeric repeats are added to the substrate by telomerase present in the cell and second, the extended products are amplified by Taq-DNA polymerase. The amplified TRAP products are separated on 10 % native PAGE and detected by SYBR Green I dye.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular & Cellular Biology, Georgetown University Medical Center, 3900 Reservoir Road, NW, Washington, DC, 20057, USA, ppb@georgetown.edu.
authors.forename: Partha P
authors.initials: PP
authors.lastname: Banerjee
authors.forename: Shankar
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Jagadeesh
mesh_terms: D001681:Biological Assay / Q000379:methods*; D004789:Enzyme Activation; D006801:Humans; D008163:Luminescent Measurements / Q000379:methods; D009693:Nucleic Acid Hybridization / Q000379:methods; D012091:Repetitive Sequences, Nucleic Acid; D019098:Telomerase / Q000378:metabolism*; D016615:Telomere / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D059505:Telomere Homeostasis
chemical_list: D019098:Telomerase