Shraga Segal Department of Microbiology & Immunology, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel.
Rejuvenation Res. 2012 Apr;15(2):206-9. doi: 10.1089/rej.2011.1285.
Telomerase promotes tissue regeneration by delaying the entrance of cells into senescence. Studies performed on cells or animals overexpressing telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT), the catalytic subunit of telomerase, have revealed that TERT exhibits antiapoptotic effects in neurons. However, it is not clear whether endogenous TERT possesses these functions as well. Here we demonstrate the presence of active telomerase in the cytoplasm and nucleus of cerebellar Purkinje neurons of adult and old mice. TERT protein levels are reduced with age, whereas in the nucleus TERT activity is increased. These findings suggest that telomerase plays a role in the aging of nondividing cells.
端粒酶通过延缓细胞进入衰老来促进组织再生。在过表达端粒酶逆转录酶（TERT）的细胞或动物上进行的研究表明，TERT 在神经元中表现出抗凋亡作用。然而，内源性 TERT 是否具有这些功能尚不清楚。在这里，我们证明了端粒酶在成年和老年小鼠小脑浦肯野神经元的细胞质和核中都具有活性。TERT 蛋白水平随年龄增长而降低，而核内 TERT 活性增加。这些发现表明端粒酶在非分裂细胞的衰老中发挥作用。
