Jana Mooster

While telomerase is known to extend the length of telomeres and prevent the onset of telomeric cell senescence, it has recently come to light that it has other lengtheningindependent properties. Resurrection of telomerase expression in tumor cells leads to cell “immortalization”. Ectopic expression of telomerase has been shown to alter expression of growth-promoting genes and enhance cell proliferation. We would like to investigate the breadth of genes affected by telomerase, how telomerase might act as a transcription factor, and look for other proteins that might interact with telomerase.