telomere
Sign in to savethumb|right|300px|Human chromosomes (grey) capped by telomeres (white)
AI overview
Telomeres are protective caps made of DNA at the ends of chromosomes that keep them from deteriorating or fusing together. They naturally shorten each time a cell divides, and when they become too short, the cell can no longer divide, which is thought to be related to aging and disease.
AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.
Research
41,810 papers- Telomere and telomerase biology.Progress in molecular biology and translational science · 2014
- Telomere Checkpoint in Development and Aging.International journal of molecular sciences · 2023
- Telomere transcription in ageing.Ageing research reviews · 2020
- Comparison of Telomere Structure in Eukaryotes.Archives of Razi Institute · 2024
- TERRA and Telomere Maintenance in the Yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae.Genes · 2023
via PubMed
Article
19 sectionsContents
- Discovery
- Structure and function
- End replication problem
- Telomere ends and shelterin
- Telomerase
- Length
- Shortening
- Oxidative damage
- Association with aging
- Potential effect of psychological stress
- Lengthening
- Sequences
- Research on disease risk
- Measurement
- In wildlife
- See also
- Notes
- References
- External links
thumb|right|300px|Human chromosomes (grey) capped by telomeres (white)
A telomere (; ) is a region of repetitive nucleotide sequences associated with specialized proteins at the ends of linear chromosomes (see Sequences). Telomeres are a widespread genetic feature most commonly found in eukaryotes. In most or even all species possessing them, they protect the terminal regions of chromosomal DNA from progressive degradation and ensure the integrity of linear chromosomes by preventing DNA repair systems from mistaking the very ends of the DNA strand for a double-strand break.