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1: FEBS Lett. 2004 Apr 23;564(1-2):9-13.Click here to read Links

On the road to immortality: hTERT upregulation in cancer cells.

Janknecht R.

Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Mayo Clinic, 200 First Street SW, Rochester, MN 55905, USA. janknecht.ralf@mayo.edu

Telomere attrition limits the replicative potential of most somatic cells. In contrast, tumor cells acquire immortality by continuous telomere maintenance which is predominantly due to the transcriptional upregulation of the limiting component of telomerase, hTERT (human telomerase reverse transcriptase). Recent findings have provided mechanistic insight into how oncogenic activation as well as derepression, often due to the inactivation of tumor suppressors, stimulate the hTERT promoter. Knowledge gained from the study of hTERT transcriptional regulation may prove instrumental in the development of cancer therapies directed at the suppression of telomerase activity in tumor cells.

PMID: 15094035 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]