What is the function of telomerase reverse transcriptase?
What is the function of telomerase reverse transcriptase?
The human telomerase reverse-transcriptase (TERT) gene encodes a rate-limiting catalytic subunit of telomerase, which maintains the length of telomeric DNA and chromosomal stability. Thus, TERT plays a pivotal role in cellular immortalization, cancer development and progression.
Is telomere a reverse transcriptase?
The maintenance of telomere repeats in most eukaryotic organisms requires telomerase, which consists of a reverse transcriptase (RT) and an RNA template that dictates the synthesis of the G-rich strand of telomere terminal repeats.
What is telomerase and its function?
Telomerase is the enzyme responsible for maintenance of the length of telomeres by addition of guanine-rich repetitive sequences. Inhibition of the telomerase catalytic function and resulting cessation of telomere length maintenance will help in restriction of tumor cell replication potential.
What is meant by telomerase?
Listen to pronunciation. (teh-LOH-meh-rays) An enzyme in cells that helps keep them alive by adding DNA to telomeres (the ends of chromosomes). Each time a cell divides, the telomeres lose a small amount of DNA and become shorter.
What is the role of telomerase in DNA replication why telomerase enzyme is functionally considered a reverse transcriptase?
To be specific, TERT is responsible for catalyzing the addition of nucleotides in a TTAGGG sequence to the ends of a chromosome’s telomeres. This addition of repetitive DNA sequences prevents degradation of the chromosomal ends following multiple rounds of replication.
What is telomerase structure?
Telomerase is a ribonucleoprotein (RNP) enzyme comprised of two essential core subunits: the telomerase RNA (TER) and telomerase reverse transcriptase protein (TERT). TERT assembles with the integral RNA template within TER to repeatedly synthesize tandem repeats of DNA at the telomeric end of the chromosome.
What is the gene code for telomerase?
The TERC gene provides instructions for making one component of an enzyme called telomerase. Telomerase maintains structures called telomeres, which are composed of repeated segments of DNA found at the ends of chromosomes.
Why do we need telomerase?
Telomeres act as protective caps on the ends of our chromosomes and prevent damage and fusion with other chromosomes. A useful analogy for this can be the way an aglet of a shoelace prevents fraying, unravelling and tangling of laces.
How is telomerase regulated?
The telomerase-telomere interaction is regulated during the cell cycle, peaking during S phase [85]. In addition, the interaction of Est1 with Tlc1 is controlled by cell cycle regulated proteolytic degradation [86].
