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Telomeres and Telomerase

Telomeres and Telomerase

In eukaryotic DNA replication, a single-stranded DNA fragment remains at the end of a chromosome after the removal of the final primer. This section of DNA cannot be replicated in the same manner as the rest of the strand because there is no 3’ end to which the newly synthesized DNA can attach. This non-replicated fragment results in gradual loss of the chromosomal DNA during each cell duplication. Additionally, it can induce a DNA damage response by enzymes that recognize single-stranded DNA.

Telomeres and Telomerase

Telomeres and Telomerase

In eukaryotic DNA replication, a single-stranded DNA fragment remains at the end of a chromosome after the removal of the final primer. This section of DNA cannot be replicated in the same manner as the rest of the strand because there is no 3’ end to which the newly synthesized DNA can attach. This non-replicated fragment results in gradual loss of the chromosomal DNA during each cell duplication. Additionally, it can induce a DNA damage response by enzymes that recognize single-stranded DNA.

Replication in Eukaryotes

Replication in Eukaryotes

Replication in Eukaryotes

Replication in Eukaryotes

In eukaryotic cells, DNA replication is highly conserved and tightly regulated. Multiple linear chromosomes must be duplicated with high fidelity before cell division, so there are many proteins that fulfill specialized roles in the replication process. Replication occurs in three phases: initiation, elongation, and termination, and ends with two complete sets of chromosomes in the nucleus.
Many Proteins Orchestrate Replication at the Origin
Eukaryotic replication follows many of the same...

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 27, 2026

Telomere Length and Telomerase Activity; A Yin and Yang of Cell Senescence

Telomere Length and Telomerase Activity; A Yin and Yang of Cell Senescence

Published on: May 22, 2013

Visualizing human telomerase activity with primer-modified Au nanoparticles.

Jiasi Wang¹, Li Wu, Jinsong Ren

¹Division of Biological Inorganic Chemistry, State Key Laboratory of Rare Earth Resource Utilization, Laboratory of Chemical Biology, Graduate School of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun, Jilin 130022, China.

Small (Weinheim an Der Bergstrasse, Germany)

|November 16, 2011

Summary

A new gold nanoparticle (AuNP) assay visualizes human telomerase activity, offering a sensitive, PCR-free alternative for cancer biomarker detection and drug screening. This method improves reliability by avoiding amplification errors.

Keywords:

G-quadruplexes colorimetry gold nanoparticles sensors telomerases

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Semi-quantitative Detection of RNA-dependent RNA Polymerase Activity of Human Telomerase Reverse Transcriptase Protein

Semi-quantitative Detection of RNA-dependent RNA Polymerase Activity of Human Telomerase Reverse Transcriptase Protein

Published on: June 12, 2018

Area of Science:

Biotechnology
Nanotechnology
Biomedical Diagnostics

Background:

Telomerase is over-expressed in over 85% of human tumors, making it a key cancer biomarker and therapeutic target.
The traditional telomeric repeat amplification protocol (TRAP) assay for telomerase detection has limitations and potential amplification-related errors.

Purpose of the Study:

To develop a novel, sensitive, and reliable method for visualizing and quantifying human telomerase activity.
To establish a PCR-free assay for improved accuracy in telomerase detection.
To explore the application of this assay in screening for anticancer drug agents.

Main Methods:

Utilized primer-modified gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) where elongated primers conjugated to AuNP surfaces fold into G-quadruplex structures.
The G-quadruplex formation protects AuNPs from aggregation, enabling colorimetric detection of telomerase activity.
Developed a simple and sensitive colorimetric assay adaptable for high-throughput screening.

Main Results:

The developed assay can detect telomerase activity down to 1 HeLa cell/µL.
The gold nanoparticle-telomerase specific (AuNP-TS) method is PCR-free, enhancing reliability.
The assay demonstrated utility in the initial screening of telomerase inhibitors as potential anticancer agents.

Conclusions:

The AuNP-based colorimetric assay provides a simple, sensitive, and reliable method for telomerase detection.
This PCR-free approach overcomes limitations of traditional assays and is suitable for high-throughput screening and drug discovery.