Saretzki Gabriele
Biomedical Sciences, Campus for Ageing and Vitality, Newcastle University, Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK.
Neural Regen Res. 2022 Nov;17(11):2364-2367. doi: 10.4103/1673-5374.336133.
Most people associate the enzyme telomerase with its role in maintaining telomeres, which is its best-known canonical role. For this important function, two main components are required: the protein telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) and the telomerase RNA component. In addition, over the last decades, an ever-growing number of other, non-telomeric, non-canonical functions for the telomerase protein TERT has been established. These reach from tumor promotion to decreasing oxidative stress and apoptosis as well as activating autophagy. These functions are more and more recognized as being important in many tissues and physiological as well as pathological conditions. The role of telomerase in brain development and neuronal cells has been investigated for more than 20 years. However, the non-telomeric role in non-dividing neurons of the brain for telomerase and the TERT-protein has only recently been highlighted by extensive research. Moreover, these developments promoted the suggestion of a beneficial and protective role of TERT against neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease. This review summarizes the most important findings in the field of telomerase in neurons and gives an outlook onto possible therapeutic applications of boosting telomerase/TERT levels with telomerase activators to prevent or ameliorate various neurodegenerative diseases.
大多数人将端粒酶与其在维持端粒方面的作用联系起来，这是其最广为人知的典型作用。对于这一重要功能，需要两个主要成分：蛋白质端粒酶逆转录酶（TERT）和端粒酶RNA成分。此外，在过去几十年中，已经确定端粒酶蛋白TERT还有越来越多其他非端粒、非典型的功能。这些功能包括促进肿瘤生长、降低氧化应激和细胞凋亡以及激活自噬。这些功能在许多组织以及生理和病理条件下越来越被认为是重要的。端粒酶在大脑发育和神经元细胞中的作用已经研究了20多年。然而，端粒酶和TERT蛋白在大脑非分裂神经元中的非端粒作用直到最近才通过广泛研究得到凸显。此外，这些进展促使人们提出TERT对阿尔茨海默病和帕金森病等神经退行性疾病具有有益和保护作用。本综述总结了神经元中端粒酶领域的最重要发现，并展望了使用端粒酶激活剂提高端粒酶/TERT水平以预防或改善各种神经退行性疾病的可能治疗应用。
