Abstract
Telomeres, the nucleoprotein structures at the ends of all eukaryotic chromosomes, shorten with every cell cycle. Telomere shortening down to a critical level is believed to trigger proliferative senescence [1,2]. In contrast, germ line cells and cancer cells do not show telomere shortening. The ribonucleoprotein telomerase, a RNA-dependent DNA polymerase, maintains telomere length in immortal cells and might be essential for unlimited growth of cancer cells. Thus, telomerase could be an important target for anti cancer therapy.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
CB Harley, AB Futcher, CW Greider, 1990: Telomeres shorten during the ageing of human fibroblasts. Nature 345, 458–460.
T von Zglinicki, 1997: Telomeres: Influencing the rate of aging. Ann NY Acad Sci, in press.
J Feng, WD Funk, SS Wang et al., 1995: The RNA component of human telomerase. Science 269, 1236–1241
T von Zglinicki, G Saretzki, W Docke, C Lotze, 1995: Mild hyperoxia shortens telomeres and inhibits proliferation of fibroblasts: a model for senescence? Exp Cell Res 220, 186–193.
TM Nakamura, GB Morin, KB Chapman, SL Weinrich, WH Andrews, J Lingner, CB Harley, TR Cech, 1997: Telomerase catalytic subunit homologs from fission yeast and human. Science 277, 955–959.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1998 Springer Science+Business Media New York
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Müller, A., Saretzki, G., von Zglinicki, T. (1998). Telomerase Inhibition by Induced Expression of Antisense RNA. In: Walden, P., Trefzer, U., Sterry, W., Farzaneh, F., Zambon, P. (eds) Gene Therapy of Cancer. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, vol 451. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-5357-1_4
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-5357-1_4
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
Print ISBN: 978-1-4613-7444-2
Online ISBN: 978-1-4615-5357-1
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive