Telomerase is required for the complete replication of chromosomal ends. In tumors, the human telomerase reverse transcriptase subunit (hTERT) is up-regulated, thereby removing a critical barrier for unlimited cell proliferation. To understand more about hTERT regulation, we measured hTERT RNA levels by quantitative reverse transcription (RT)-PCR. Telomerase-positive cell lines were found to contain between 0.2 and 6 molecules of spliced hTERT RNA per cell, whereas in telomerase-negative cells, the number of molecules was below the sensitivity of the assay (
Joachim Lingner, Rita Valador Fernandes
Elisa Oricchio, Daniele Tavernari, Natalya Katanayeva, Ruxandra-Andreea Lambuta, Juan Diaz Miyar, Giovanni Ciriello