Telomerase is a specialized reverse transcriptase that is responsible for telomere length maintenance. As in other organisms, the minimal components required for an active human telomerase are the template-providing telomerase RNA (hTR) and the enzymatic entity telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT). Here, we explored the structure of hTR and the hTERT-induced conformational changes within hT...

The hTERT gene encodes the telomerase catalytic subunit that plays a key role in cancer cell immortalization. Earlier, hTERT amplification was detected in squamous cell cervical carcinomas (SCC), however possible relations between elevated hTERT mRNA level and gene amplification was not studied. Here, we compared the hTERT expression and copy number in the same tumors by quantitative real-time ...

BACKGROUND Telomerase catalytic subunit (hTERT) gene re-expression is a rate limiting step for the activity of telomerase, a key enzyme implicated in cellular immortalisation and transformation. AIMS To determine the potential role of hTERT protein in gallbladder carcinogenesis. MATERIAL/METHODS hTERT protein was analysed by means of immunohistochemistry in 89 gallbladder tissue samples: 16...

Telomerase is a specialized reverse transcriptase (RT) that is minimally composed of a protein catalytic subunit and an RNA component. The RNA subunit contains a short template sequence that directs the synthesis of DNA repeats at the ends of chromosomes. Human telomerase activity can be reconstituted in vitro by the expression of the human telomerase protein catalytic subunit (hTERT) in the pr...

Telomerase activation is critical for the immortalization of primary human keratinocytes by the high-risk HPV E6 and E7 oncoproteins, and this activation is mediated in part by E6-induction of the hTERT promoter. E6 induces the hTERT promoter via interactions with the cellular ubiquitin ligase, E6AP, and with the c-Myc and NFX-1 proteins, which are resident on the promoter. In the current study...

Telomerase activation is a common feature of most types of human cancers. Although several studies have shown that activation of telomerase might participate in the progression of tumors, the mechanism by which telomerase activation causes the invasion and metastasis of tumors remains unclear. In this study, we transfected a vector containing the full-length cDNA of hTERT into a telomerasenegat...

hTERT, the human telomerase reverse transcriptase, is highly expressed in stem cells and embryonic tissues but undetectable in most adult somatic cells. To understand its repression mechanisms in somatic cells, we investigated the endogenous hTERT gene regulation during differentiation of human leukemic HL60 cells. Our study revealed that silencing of the hTERT promoter was a biphasic process. ...

Activatable cell-penetrating peptides (aCPPs) allow non-viral, low cytotoxic and selective delivery of compounds into target cells for cancer therapy. In tumour cells, up-regulation of human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) frequently occurs and is being considered as a target in cancer diagnosis and treatment. siRNA sequence that target hTERT mRNA can silence the gene and reduce hTERT ...