telomerase tagged posts

Researchers have found the first evidence that telomere shortening is not just a sign of aging, but a key component of the body’s cancer prevention system. As time goes by, the tips of your chromosomes — called telomeres — become shorter. This process has long been viewed as an unwanted side-effect of aging, but a recent study shows it is in fact good for you.

“Telomeres protect the genetic material,” says Titia de Lange, Leon Hess Professor at Rockefeller. “The DNA in telomeres shortens when cells divide, eventually halting cell division when the telomere reserve is depleted.”

New results from de Lange’s lab provide the first evidence that telomere shortening helps prevent cancer in humans, likely because of its power to...

A Northwestern University organic chemist and his team now have developed a promising molecular tool that targets and inhibits one of cell immortality’s underlying gears: the enzyme telomerase.

This enzyme is found overexpressed in approximately 90% of human cancer cells and has become an important subject of study for cancer researchers. Normal cells have the gene for telomerase, but it typically is not expressed. “Telomerase is the primary enzyme that allows cancer cells to live forever,” said Karl A. Scheidt, who led the research. “We want to short-circuit this immortality...

This figure depicts the enzyme telomerase as well as telomeres relative to a chromosome.

Can we stay young forever, or even recapture lost youth? Can we stay young forever, or even recapture lost youth? Research from the laboratory of Professor Julian Chen in the School of Molecular Sciences at Arizona State University recently uncovered a crucial step in the telomerase enzyme catalytic cycle. This catalytic cycle determines the ability of the human telomerase enzyme to synthesize DNA “repeats” (specific DNA segments of six nucleotides) onto chromosome ends, and so afford immortality in cells. Understanding the underlying mechanism of telomerase action offers new avenues toward effective anti-aging therapeutics.

Typical human cells are mortal and cannot forever renew themselves...