Summary
Telomerase is central to cellular immortality and is a key component of most cancer cells although this enzyme is rarely expressed to significant levels in normal cells. Therefore, the inhibition of telomerase has garnered considerable attention as a possible anticancer approach. Many of the methods applied to telomerase inhibition focus on either of the two major components of the ribonucleoprotein holoenzyme, that is, the telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) catalytic subunit or the telomerase RNA (TR) component. Other protocols have been developed to target the proteins, such as tankyrase, that are associated with telomerase at the ends of chromosomes. This chapter summarizes some of these recent advances in telomerase inhibition.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Ishikawa, F. (1997) Regulation mechanisms of mammalian telomerase. A review. Biochemistry (Mosc). 62, 1332–1337.
Weinrich, S.L., Pruzan, R., Ma, L., Ouellette, M., Tesmer, V.M., Holt, S.E., Bodnar, A.G., Lichtsteiner, S., Kim, N.W., Trager, J.B., Taylor, R.D., Carlos, R., Andrews, W.H., Wright, W.E., Shay, J.W., Harley, C.B., Morin, G.B. (1997) Reconstitution of human telomerase with the template RNA component hTR and the catalytic protein subunit hTRT. Nat. Genet. 17, 498–502.
Beattie, T.L., Zhou, W., Robinson, M.O., Harrington, L. (1998) Reconstitution of human telomerase activity in vitro. Curr. Biol. 29, 177–180.
Shay, J.W., Bacchetti, S. (1997) A survey of telomerase activity in human cancer. Eur. J. Cancer 33, 787–791.
Ahmed, A., Tollefsbol, T. (2001) Telomeres and telomerase: basic science implications for aging. J. Am. Geriatr. Soc. 49, 1105–1109.
Saldanha, S.N., Andrews, L.G., Tollefsbol, T.O. (2003) Analysis of telomerase activity and detection of its catalytic subunit, hTERT. Anal. Biochem. 315, 1–21.
Hodes, R. (2001) Molecular targeting of cancer: telomeres as targets. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 98, 7649–7651.
Ahmed, A., Tollefsbol, T. (2003) Telomeres, telomerase, and telomerase inhibition: clinical implications for cancer. J. Am. Geriatr. Soc. 51, 116–122.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2007 Humana Press Inc.
About this protocol
Cite this protocol
Andrews, L.G., Tollefsbol, T.O. (2007). Methods of Telomerase Inhibition. In: Andrews, L.G., Tollefsbol, T.O. (eds) Telomerase Inhibition. Methods in Molecular Biology™, vol 405. Humana Press. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-60327-070-0_1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-60327-070-0_1
Publisher Name: Humana Press
Print ISBN: 978-1-58829-683-2
Online ISBN: 978-1-60327-070-0
eBook Packages: Springer Protocols