telomerase
Sign in to savethumb|Telomerase catalytic subunit TERT of [[Tribolium castaneum (Red flour beetle), bound to putative RNA template and telomeric DNA (PDB 3KYL)]] thumb|A conceptual diagram showing the protein component of telomerase (TERT) in grey and the RNA component (TR) in yellow
Article
21 sectionsContents
- History
- Structure
- The catalytic protein
- The telomerase complex
- Mechanism
- Clinical implications
- Aging
- Premature aging
- Cancer
- Drugs
- Immunotherapy
- Telomerase Vaccines
- Targeted apoptosis
- Small interfering RNA (siRNA)
- Heart disease, diabetes and quality of life
- Rare human diseases
- TERT Splice Variants
- See also
- References
- Further reading
- External links
thumb|Telomerase catalytic subunit TERT of [[Tribolium castaneum (Red flour beetle), bound to putative RNA template and telomeric DNA (PDB 3KYL)]] thumb|A conceptual diagram showing the protein component of telomerase (TERT) in grey and the RNA component (TR) in yellow
Telomerase, also called terminal transferase, is a ribonucleoprotein that adds a species-dependent telomere repeat sequence to the 3' end of telomeres. A telomere is a region of repetitive sequences at each end of the chromosomes of most eukaryotes. Telomeres protect the end of the chromosome from DNA damage or from fusion with neighbouring chromosomes. The fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster lacks telomerase, but instead uses retrotransposons to maintain telomeres.