Telomerase News and Research

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Findings may help doctors recommend appropriate treatments, improve patient outcomes

Like a car's front and back bumpers, your cell's chromosomes are capped by "telomeres" that protect this genetic material against deterioration. Still, after enough replications, a chromosome's telomeres break down and once they reach a certain point of degradation, the cell dies. This is one reason that cells are mortal: telomeres only last so long. That is, unless the enzyme telomerase builds new material onto the worn telomeres to reinforce these chromosomal "bumpers". Telomere repair can be a good thing, but in some cases it's not: overactive telomerase can lengthen telomeres until a cell becomes immortal…leading to cancer.

18 Feb 2015

TERT mutations may make smokers more susceptible to emphysema

Mutations in a gene that helps repair damaged chromosome ends may make smokers — especially female smokers — more susceptible to emphysema, according to results of a new study led by Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center researchers.

14 Jan 2015

UT Southwestern researchers target cells' biological clock to kill cancer cells, shrink tumor growth

Cell biologists at UT Southwestern Medical Center have targeted telomeres with a small molecule called 6-thiodG that takes advantage of the cell's 'biological clock' to kill cancer cells and shrink tumor growth.

2 Jan 2015

Researchers identify mutations that destabilize DNA structure that turns a gene off

Researchers at the University of Louisville's James Graham Brown Cancer Center have identified for the first time mutations that destabilize a DNA structure that turns a gene off. These mutations occur at four specific sites in what is known as the "hTERT promoter" in more than 75 percent of glioblastomas and melanomas.

24 Dec 2014

Researchers treat myocardial infarction with new telomerase-based gene therapy

The enzyme telomerase repairs cell damage produced by ageing, and has been used successfully in therapies to lengthen the life of mice. Now it has been observed that it could also be used to cure illnesses related to the ageing process.

18 Dec 2014

Inovio begins hTERT DNA immunotherapy trial in adults with breast, lung and pancreatic cancer

Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced it has initiated a phase I trial of its hTERT DNA immunotherapy (INO-1400) alone or in combination with Inovio's IL-12 immune activator (INO-9012) in adults with breast, lung, or pancreatic cancer at high risk of relapse after surgery and other cancer treatments.

18 Dec 2014

Baylor-led researchers identify gene linked to familial glioma

An international consortium of researchers led by Baylor College of Medicine has identified for the first time a gene associated with familial glioma (brain tumors that appear in two or more members of the same family) providing new support that certain people may be genetically predisposed to the disease.

8 Dec 2014

Scientists identify gene mutation that causes aplastic anemia

An international team of scientists has identified a gene mutation that causes aplastic anemia, a serious blood disorder in which the bone marrow fails to produce normal amounts of blood cells.

23 Sep 2014

Cancer Research UK, CRT partner with Asterias to trail novel immunotherapy treatment for lung cancer

CANCER RESEARCH UK and Cancer Research Technology , the charity's development and commercialisation arm, have reached an agreement with Asterias Biotherapeutics, Inc., a biotechnology company in the emerging field of regenerative medicine, to take forward Asterias' novel immunotherapy treatment AST-VAC2 into clinical trials in subjects with non-small cell lung cancer.

11 Sep 2014

DNA regions that contained telomeres generate RNAs

RNA is one of the most primitive molecules associated with life that has awakened most interest over the last decade; a sister molecule to cellular DNA from which it originates via a process called transcription.

4 Sep 2014

Study suggests healthy diet, sleep and exercise can mitigate negative impacts of stress

A new study from UC San Francisco is the first to show that while the impact of life's stressors accumulate overtime and accelerate cellular aging, these negative effects may be reduced by maintaining a healthy diet, exercising and sleeping well.

29 Jul 2014

Gene variants that lead to longer telomeres boost brain cancer risk

New genomic research led by UC San Francisco scientists reveals that two common gene variants that lead to longer telomeres, the caps on chromosome ends thought by many scientists to confer health by protecting cells from aging, also significantly increase the risk of developing the deadly brain cancers known as gliomas.

9 Jun 2014

SIRT1 protein necessary for telomere elongation and genome integrity during cell reprogramming

Cell reprogramming converts specialised cells such as nerve cells or skin cells towards an embryonic stem cell state. This reversal in the evolutionary development of cells also requires a reversal in the biology of telomeres, the structures that protect the ends of chromosomes; whilst under normal conditions telomeres shorten over time, during cell reprogramming they follow the opposite strategy and increase in length.

22 Apr 2014

Vitamin D receptor gene variant protects against male LUTS

An international research effort aimed at identifying the genetic basis of lower urinary tract symptoms has identified five candidate genes, one of which – encoding the vitamin D receptor – is consistently protective against these symptoms in men.

17 Mar 2014

Telomerase inhibiting drug induces morphologic, molecular, clinical remissions in myelofibrosis patients

metelstat, a novel telomerase inhibiting drug, has been found to induce morphologic, molecular and clinical remissions in some patients with myelofibrosis a Mayo Clinic study has found. The results were presented today at the 2013 American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting in New Orleans.

6 Dec 2013

NTU launches new CryoEM lab equipped with advanced cryo transmission electron microscope

Nanyang Technological University (NTU) today launched a new electron microscopy lab led by world renowned scientist Professor Daniela Rhodes. Named the NTU Cryo-Electron Microscopy Laboratory, it is also the world's first university research facility to be equipped with an advanced cryo transmission electron microscope fitted with the latest detector/camera ten times more sensitive than a regular electron microscopy camera.

25 Oct 2013

Scientist receives NIH New Innovator Award to design innovative approaches for cancer treatment

Derek Taylor, PhD, a member of the Case Western Reserve School of Medicine, has been awarded the prestigious New Innovator Award by the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

22 Oct 2013

People who lower stress levels through meditation, yoga have longer telomeres

Targeting telomeres, the protective caps at the end of all chromosomes that are critical to healthy cell function, T.A. Sciences' products activate an enzyme that can slow down and possibly reverse age- and lifestyle-related telomere shortening. Short telomeres can cause mutations and degradations to chromosomes leading to loss of cell functionality. Its inaugural product, TA-65 is the only proven product specifically focused on the telomerase activation market.

12 Oct 2013

Researchers discover how cancer development molecule maintains its genome integrity

University of Montreal researchers have discovered how telomerase, a molecule essential for cancer development, is directed to structures on our genome called telomeres in order to maintain its integrity and in turn, the integrity of the genome.

7 Oct 2013

UCSF inaugurates new endowment of PhD education programs in basic sciences

Sequoia Capital Chairman Sir Michael Moritz, KBE, and his wife, Harriet Heyman, in collaboration with UC San Francisco, have kicked off a new endowment with a $60 million contribution to ensure the future of PhD education programs in the basic sciences.

25 Sep 2013