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telomerase
- Thread starter dudewheresmymd
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You probably just want to read up on the human telomerase gene. hTERT is the human gene for the catalytic part of Telomerase.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telomerase_reverse_transcriptase
Telomerase is not expressed in adult somatic cells but is in stem cells and immortalized cancer lines. A perfect level of telomerase can immortalize a normal somatic cell culture. Too much or too little in vivo and you induce tumor formation for different reasons.
I believe inactivation of the hTERT gene is through epigenetic dna methylation of a regulatory sequence. (I don't have a reference for that part)
Any investigation you do should be reading primary research abstracts from ncbi etc. Any textbook would be years outdated.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telomerase_reverse_transcriptase
Telomerase is not expressed in adult somatic cells but is in stem cells and immortalized cancer lines. A perfect level of telomerase can immortalize a normal somatic cell culture. Too much or too little in vivo and you induce tumor formation for different reasons.
I believe inactivation of the hTERT gene is through epigenetic dna methylation of a regulatory sequence. (I don't have a reference for that part)
Any investigation you do should be reading primary research abstracts from ncbi etc. Any textbook would be years outdated.
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I've found this http://voices.yahoo.com/universal-cancer-drug-almost-horizon-tin2-mimicker-7356562.html where you can read:
Senior study author Ming Lei, Ph.D., assistant professor of biological chemistry at the University of Michigan Medical School, explains: "In 90 percent of cancers, no matter what caused the cancer to form, it needs telomerase activity to maintain the cell. Without telomerase, the cell will die. Our work is key to understanding a detailed mechanism for how these molecules interact and how to design a drug to block Fbx4."
Senior study author Ming Lei, Ph.D., assistant professor of biological chemistry at the University of Michigan Medical School, explains: "In 90 percent of cancers, no matter what caused the cancer to form, it needs telomerase activity to maintain the cell. Without telomerase, the cell will die. Our work is key to understanding a detailed mechanism for how these molecules interact and how to design a drug to block Fbx4."