Telomerase is the enzyme responsible for maintenance of the length of telomeres by addition of guanine-rich repetitive sequences. Telomerase activity is exhibited in gametes and stem and tumor cells. In human somatic cells proliferation potential is strictly limited and senescence follows approximately 50-70 cell divisions. In most tumor cells, on the contrary, replication potential is unlimited. Besides catalytic telomere elongation, independent telomerase functions can be also involved in cell cycle regulation. Inhibition of the telomerase catalytic function and resulting cessation of telomere length maintenance will help in restriction of tumor cell replication potential. On the other hand, formation of temporarily active enzyme via its intracellular activation or due to stimulation of expression of telomerase components will result in telomerase activation and telomere elongation that can be used for correction of degenerative changes. Here you can see a very recent structure of Human telomerase catalytic core in complex with telomeric DNA determined by cryoEM (PDB code: 7TRF)
#molecularart ... #immolecular ... #telomere ... #telomerase ... #chromosome ... #cancer ... #aging ... #enzyme ... #elongation ... #cryoem
Telomerase complex structure rendered with @proteinimaging and depicted with @corelphotopaint
#molecularart ... #immolecular ... #telomere ... #telomerase ... #chromosome ... #cancer ... #aging ... #enzyme ... #elongation ... #cryoem
Telomerase complex structure rendered with @proteinimaging and depicted with @corelphotopaint
