Testorelli C
Dpt.of Pharmacology, School of Medicine, University of Milan, Milan, Italy.
J Exp Clin Cancer Res. 2003 Jun;22(2):165-9.
Telomerase is a reverse transcriptase enzyme that can add the hexameric repeats TTAGGG to chromosome ends. So far, telomerase prevents telomere erosion occurring during cell division, because of the semi-conservative DNA replication. The maintenance of telomeres length is necessary for the proliferation of cells and may represent a critical step both in senescence and cancer progression. Telomerase is present in most types of tumors, but usually not in normal somatic cells. This review will focus on the possibility of exploiting telomerase as a marker for cancer diagnosis and prognosis and as an ideal target for cancer therapies based on telomerase inhibitors.
端粒酶是一种逆转录酶，可将六聚体重复序列TTAGGG添加到染色体末端。迄今为止，由于DNA半保留复制，端粒酶可防止细胞分裂过程中端粒缩短。维持端粒长度对于细胞增殖是必要的，并且可能是衰老和癌症进展中的关键步骤。端粒酶存在于大多数肿瘤类型中，但通常不存在于正常体细胞中。本综述将重点探讨将端粒酶用作癌症诊断和预后标志物以及作为基于端粒酶抑制剂的癌症治疗理想靶点的可能性。
