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Molecular chaperones and the process of cellular immortalization in vitro
1Department of Clinical Chemistry, Blekinge County Hospital, Karlskrona, Sweden; Present address: Godthåbsvej 111, 3th, DK-2000, Frederiksberg, Denmark. krollj@danbbs.dk
Biogerontology
|June 21, 2002
Abstract:
It is suggested that the chaperone-activity of the SV40 T protein is responsible for the first step in the process of cellular immortalization in vitro: the extension of life span of most transfected cells. Further that an additional up-regulation of selected molecular chaperones is causal in the second step of the process: the rare acquisition of an unlimited cell division potential. Possibly the molecular chaperones are evolution facilitators, enabling the immortalization of primary cells in vitro, as well as the evolution of longevity in species.