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On the road to immortality: hTERT upregulation in cancer cells
Author(s) -
Janknecht Ralf
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
febs letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.593
H-Index - 257
eISSN - 1873-3468
pISSN - 0014-5793
DOI - 10.1016/s0014-5793(04)00356-4
Subject(s) - telomerase reverse transcriptase , telomerase , telomere , downregulation and upregulation , derepression , biology , cancer research , somatic cell , cancer cell , cancer , suppressor , microbiology and biotechnology , genetics , dna , gene expression , gene , psychological repression
Telomere attrition limits the replicative potential of most somatic cells. In contrast, tumor cells acquire immortality by continuous telomere maintenance which is predominantly due to the transcriptional upregulation of the limiting component of telomerase, hTERT (human telomerase reverse transcriptase). Recent findings have provided mechanistic insight into how oncogenic activation as well as derepression, often due to the inactivation of tumor suppressors, stimulate the hTERT promoter. Knowledge gained from the study of hTERT transcriptional regulation may prove instrumental in the development of cancer therapies directed at the suppression of telomerase activity in tumor cells.