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Updated: Jun 24, 2026

Utilizing Murine Inducible Telomerase Alleles in the Studies of Tissue Degeneration/Regeneration and Cancer
08:34

Utilizing Murine Inducible Telomerase Alleles in the Studies of Tissue Degeneration/Regeneration and Cancer

Published on: April 13, 2015

Telomerase structure paves the way for new cancer therapies

Emmanuel Skordalakes1

  • 1Gene Expression & Regulation Program, The Wistar Institute, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA. skorda@wistar.org

Future Oncology (London, England)
|March 17, 2009
PubMed

Insights

Telomerase, an enzyme linked to cancer cell growth, is a key target for new cancer drugs. A recent high-resolution structure of telomerase offers a powerful tool for developing these therapies and potential anti-aging treatments.

Area of Science:

  • Biochemistry
  • Oncology
  • Molecular Biology

Background:

  • Inappropriate activation of telomerase correlates with uncontrollable cell proliferation in approximately 90% of human cancers.
  • Telomerase has been a significant target for anticancer drug development since its activity was detected in human tumors in the mid-1990s.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To describe telomerase biology and current efforts in identifying telomerase function modulators.
  • To highlight the importance of the telomerase structure in future drug development for cancer and anti-aging therapies.

Main Methods:

  • Review of telomerase biology.
  • Overview of current strategies for identifying telomerase function modulators.
  • Discussion of the significance of recent telomerase structure elucidation.

Main Results:

  • A recent high-resolution structure of the catalytic subunit of telomerase has been determined.
  • This structural information is a critical advancement for drug discovery.

Conclusions:

  • The determined telomerase structure is pivotal for developing novel, broadly effective anticancer drugs.
  • This structural insight also holds potential for advancing anti-aging therapies.

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