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Telomerase beyond telomeres

Nature Reviews Cancer volume 2, pages 627–633 (2002)Cite this article

Abstract

The role of telomerase in actively proliferating cells is assumed to be restricted to maintaining of telomeres above a minimum-length threshold, thereby preventing telomere exhaustion and chromosomal instability. However, forced telomerase expression in cells and mice with normal-length telomeres has shown that telomerase promotes growth and survival in a manner that is uncoupled from net telomere lengthening. These findings imply that telomerase might have a fundamental role in tumour growth and survival, even at stages when telomeres are sufficiently long.

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Figure 1: A putative structure of a capped telomere based on the T-loop model.
Figure 2: The putative roles of telomerase in cells with sufficiently long telomeres.
Figure 3: Model for telomere dynamics in telomerase-deficient cells — for example, somatic cells.

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Acknowledgements

We thank M. Serrano for critical reading of the manuscript. Research at the laboratory of M.A.B. is funded by the MCYT (Ministry of Science and Technology), CAM (Regional Government of Madrid), the European Union and the DIO (Department of Immunology and Oncology). The DIO was founded and is supported by the Spanish Research Council (CSIC) and by Pharmacia.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. the Department of Immunology and Oncology, National Centre of Biotechnology, Madrid, E-28049, Spain

    María A. Blasco

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  1. María A. Blasco
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DATABASES

LocusLink

β-actin

AKT

c-ABL

DNA-PKcs

E2F

keratin 5

Ku86

p53

PI3K

RB

Tert

TERT

Terc

TERC

TRF2

Trp53

FURTHER INFORMATION

Multimedia Telomere Resource

The Telomere Club

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Blasco, M. Telomerase beyond telomeres. Nat Rev Cancer 2, 627–633 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrc862

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