title: Current Insights to Regulation and Role of Telomerase in Human Diseases.
abstract: The telomerase ribonucleoprotein complex has a pivotal role in regulating the proliferation and senescence of normal somatic cells as well as cancer cells. This complex is comprised mainly of telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT), telomerase RNA component (TERC) and other associated proteins that function to elongate telomeres localized at the end of the chromosomes. While reactivation of telomerase is a major hallmark of most cancers, together with the synergistic activation of other oncogenic signals, deficiency in telomerase and telomeric proteins might lead to aging and senescence-associated disorders. Therefore, it is critically important to understand the canonical as well as non-canonical functions of telomerase through TERT to develop a therapeutic strategy against telomerase-related diseases. In this review, we shed light on the regulation and function of telomerase, and current therapeutic strategies against telomerase in cancer and age-related diseases.
authors.affiliation: Division of Cancer Genetics and Therapeutics, Laboratory of NFκB Signaling, Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology (IMCB), A*STAR (Agency for Science, Technology and Research), Singapore 138673, Singapore. ozturkmb@student.imcb.a-star.edu.sg.|Department of Biochemistry, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore (NUS), Singapore 117597, Singapore. ozturkmb@student.imcb.a-star.edu.sg.
authors.forename: Mert Burak
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Ozturk
authors.affiliation: Division of Cancer Genetics and Therapeutics, Laboratory of NFκB Signaling, Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology (IMCB), A*STAR (Agency for Science, Technology and Research), Singapore 138673, Singapore. liyh@imcb.a-star.edu.sg.
authors.forename: Yinghui
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Division of Cancer Genetics and Therapeutics, Laboratory of NFκB Signaling, Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology (IMCB), A*STAR (Agency for Science, Technology and Research), Singapore 138673, Singapore. vinayt@imcb.a-star.edu.sg.|Department of Biochemistry, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore (NUS), Singapore 117597, Singapore. vinayt@imcb.a-star.edu.sg.|Centre for Cancer Biology, University of South Australia and SA Pathology, Adelaide SA 5000, Australia. vinayt@imcb.a-star.edu.sg.
authors.forename: Vinay
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Tergaonkar
keywords: age-related diseases; cancer; hTERT promoter mutations; telomerase; telomerase RNA component (TERC); telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT); telomere