Stowers Institute's Baumann Lab identifies key step in maturation pathway of telomerase

... enzyme is made and assembled from its components. telomerase uses part of an RNA subunit as a template to add ... must be processed into a shorter mature form for telomerase to function. "We discovered a new pathway of ... end. We now show that 3' end processing for telomerase RNA uses a fundamentally different and novel ...

Researchers use chemical from medicinal plants to fight HIV

... the T-cells fighting that virus can't keep their telomerase turned on forever," Effros said. "They turn off, ... Previous studies have shown that injecting the telomerase gene into T-cells can keep the telomeres from ... in traditional Chinese therapy and which enhances telomerase activity in other cell types. They tested ...

Novel anti-cancer mechanism found in long-lived rodents

... lived as long as we humans do needed to suppress telomerase activity to guard against cancer. telomerase helps cells reproduce, and cancer is essentially ... squirrel that live for 24 years or more? With telomerase fully active over such a long period, why isn't ...

Landmark study opens door to new cancer, aging treatments

... researchers in their efforts to design effective telomerase inhibitors, says Emmanuel Skordalakes, Ph.D., ... says. "That means a drug that deactivates telomerase would likely work against all cancers, with few ... The study elucidates the active region of telomerase and provides the first full-length view of ...

UGA researchers discover mechanism that explains how cancer enzyme winds up on ends of chromosomes

... have known for some time that an enzyme called telomerase is crucial to cancer's progress. Now, for the ... biology and genetics at UGA, "and the fact that telomerase keeps these telomeres growing when it should be ... for the proliferation of cancer. That makes telomerase a very promising target for a potential drug to ...

Researchers find way to make tumor cells easier to destroy

... also enhances the activity of an enzyme called telomerase in cancer cells," he says. "Telomerase helps ... them to survive. We used compounds that inhibit telomerase and showed that cancer cells then become easier ... and radiation used in combination." telomerase repairs the ends of chromosomes by maintaining ...

Baumann lab identifies elusive telomere RNA subunit in single cell model

... Baumann Lab has identified the long-sought telomerase RNA gene in a single-cell research model. Their ... the ends of chromosomes to replenish lost DNA. As telomerase is required for the continued growth of most ... has further intensified interest in understanding telomerase and its regulation. The RNA subunit ...

Columbia to award 2007 Horwitz Prize to three generations of teacher-student scientists

... did not set out to answer questions about aging, telomerase has provided answers. The sequencing of the telomeres and the discovery of telomerase has lead to an entirely new field of research ... telomerase, they have a limited lifespan. Adding telomerase to human cells in culture dishes makes cells ...

UT Southwestern researchers identify gene linked to inherited form of fatal lung disease

... TERT and TERC. These two genes are normally responsible for producing the telomerase enzyme, which elongates the lengths of DNA at the ends of chromosomes, ... familial IPF. Up to 40 percent have short telomere lengths and evidence of telomerase dysfunction. "But we were still left with a big question mark," Dr. ...

Telomeres resemble DNA fragile sites

... a considerable amount of time. The only other known replication problem posed by telomeres was solved in 1985 when it was shown that the enzyme telomerase elongates telomeres, which shorten during every cell division. The second problem posed by telomeres, the so-called end-protection problem, was ...

UCLA study identifies mechanism behind mind-body connection

... remains elevated in the bloodstream for long periods of time, though, it wears down the immune system. We are testing therapeutic ways of enhancing telomerase levels to help the immune system ward off cortisol's effect. If we're successful, one day a pill may exist to strengthen the immune system's ability ...

Menstrual blood -- a valuable source of multipotential stem cells?

... cardiogenic, and neural cell lineages. According to Patel, the sample MenSCs expanded rapidly and maintained greater than 50 percent of their telomerase activity when compared to human embryonic stem cells and better than bone marrow-derived stem cells. Studies have demonstrated that MenSCs are easily ...

Short chromosomes put cancer cells in forced rest

... research team first mated mice with nonoperating telomerase to mice carrying a mutation that predisposed them ... rare but aggressive cancer of white blood cells. telomerase helps maintain the caps or ends of chromosomes ... generation pups born to these mice contained no telomerase and very long telomeres. These mice all developed ...

New target for cancer therapy identified

... stopping the gene from producing a protein called telomerase that is essential if cancer cells are to proliferate. telomerase plays a key role in controlling the life span of ... Although it is involved in tumour development, telomerase is also found in modest quantities in most cells. ...

Report lists top 20 most-vulnerable African carnivores

... detailed structure of an essential piece of the telomerase enzyme, an important contributor to the vast ... ends of chromosomes. In most healthy adult cells, telomerase is shut off, and telomeres slowly shrink during ... Cancer cells, however, usually find a way to turn telomerase back on, achieving a dangerous immortality. ...

Groovy protein essential for promoting cancer development

... detailed structure of an essential piece of the telomerase enzyme, an important contributor to the vast ... ends of chromosomes. In most healthy adult cells, telomerase is shut off, and telomeres slowly shrink during ... Cancer cells, however, usually find a way to turn telomerase back on, achieving a dangerous immortality. ...

A little telomerase isn't enough

... exposed. In stem cells, however, a protein called telomerase normally maintains the telomeres' length, ... engineered to have just half the normal amount of telomerase can't maintain their stem cells' chromosome ends, showing that a little telomerase isn't enough. In these "half-telomerase" mice, ...

Two chemicals boost immune cells' ability to fight HIV without gene therapy

... demonstrates that the new chemicals activate telomerase -- a protein that boosts immune cells' ability to ... immune cells that fight HIV naturally produce telomerase during the infection's early phase, but stop once ... of Medicine at UCLA. "The two compounds switched telomerase back on in the cells." In earlier research, the ...

Biochemists report discovery of structure of major piece of telomerase; implications for cancer

... replicated. This is the first major piece of telomerase for which the structure is known. telomerase plays a key role in most cancers, and this work ... of the structure should provide insights into how telomerase works," said Juli Feigon, professor of chemistry ...

GATA: a graphic alignment tool for comparative sequence analysis

... very different in reality. Its the case of telomerase inhibitors to treat cancer; they are supposed to ... getting too short so cells can keep dividing. telomerase is not used by healthy cells, and has been ... and telomere shortening decrease the effects of telomerase inhibitors. Importantly, tankyrase inhibition ...

Combination therapy boosts effectiveness of telomere-directed cancer cell death

... very different in reality. Its the case of telomerase inhibitors to treat cancer; they are supposed to ... getting too short so cells can keep dividing. telomerase is not used by healthy cells, and has been ... and telomere shortening decrease the effects of telomerase inhibitors. Importantly, tankyrase inhibition ...

DNA ends: Common tool, different job

... baker's yeast cells, which need to divide indefinitely, an enzyme called telomerase elongates telomeres to compensate for the continual attrition at chromosome ends. At the same time, telomerase activity is the main mechanism by which human tumor cells achieve immortal ...

Targeted virus compels cancer cells to eat themselves

... as a target,'' Kondo says. ''Once the virus enters the cell, it needs telomerase to replicate. Normal brain tissue does not have telomerase, so this virus ... is digested. Kondo and colleagues showed that hTERT-Ad (short for human telomerase reverse transcriptase promoter regulated adenovirus) infected the glioma ...

DNA end caps may lead to cancer treatments, UT Southwestern researchers report

... cell can no longer divide. But in most cancer cells, an enzyme called telomerase keeps the telomeres from shortening, making the cells immortal and ... of the overhang ?more DNA is lost from ends that have longer overhangs. telomerase also changed the relative size of the two tails. "We need to ...

Discarded placentas deliver researchers promising cells similar to embryonic stem cells

... "Perhaps it's to their advantage that the amnion epithelial cells lack telomerase expression, because telomerase is associated with many cancers and one of the main concerns about stem ...

Researchers use RNAi libraries to identify regulators of apoptosis and chemoresistance

... which normally act to keep cell growth in check, as well as human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT), the enzyme that protects the ends of ... melanoma. The scientists also investigated the role of elevated telomerase activity. In combination with other cancer genes, hTERT, the active ...

Ibruprofen and other commonly used painkillers for treating inflammation may increase the risk of heart attack

... which normally act to keep cell growth in check, as well as human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT), the enzyme that protects the ends of ... melanoma. The scientists also investigated the role of elevated telomerase activity. In combination with other cancer genes, hTERT, the active ...

Engineered skin offers clues to melanoma development

... which normally act to keep cell growth in check, as well as human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT), the enzyme that protects the ends of ... melanoma. The scientists also investigated the role of elevated telomerase activity. In combination with other cancer genes, hTERT, the active ...

Master regulatory gene found that guides fate of blood-producing stem cells

... Over the past 10 years, several gene families have been suggested to be important in regulating HSC fate-for example homebox, wnt, notch 1, and telomerase genes. Emerson and colleagues figured that one transcription factor, called NF-Y, was required for activating promoters of all of these genes. What's ...

Nanowires can detect molecular signs of cancer, scientists find

... in at least 80 percent of known human cancers. In testing of extracts from as few as 10 tumor cells, these receptors allowed real-time monitoring of telomerase binding and activity. Lieber says nanowire arrays could easily be scaled up to detect many different cancer markers -- more of which are being ...