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Updated: May 19, 2026

Semi-quantitative Detection of RNA-dependent RNA Polymerase Activity of Human Telomerase Reverse Transcriptase Protein
Published on: June 12, 2018
Biogenesis of telomerase ribonucleoproteins
Emily D Egan1, Kathleen Collins
1Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, California 94720-3200, USA.
Abstract:
Telomerase adds simple-sequence repeats to the ends of linear chromosomes to counteract the loss of end sequence inherent in conventional DNA replication. Catalytic activity for repeat synthesis results from the cooperation of the telomerase reverse transcriptase protein (TERT) and the template-containing telomerase RNA (TER). TERs vary widely in sequence and structure but share a set of motifs required for TERT binding and catalytic activity. Species-specific TER motifs play essential roles in RNP biogenesis, stability, trafficking, and regulation. Remarkably, the biogenesis pathways that generate mature TER differ across eukaryotes. Furthermore, the cellular processes that direct the assembly of a biologically functional telomerase holoenzyme and its engagement with telomeres are evolutionarily varied and regulated. This review highlights the diversity of strategies for telomerase RNP biogenesis, RNP assembly, and telomere recruitment among ciliates, yeasts, and vertebrates and suggests common themes in these pathways and their regulation.
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