Trends in Genetics
Volume 15, Issue 3, 1 March 1999, Pages 109-112
Journal home page for Trends in Genetics

Review
Telomerase activation: one step on the road to cancer?

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0168-9525(98)01681-3Get rights and content
Under a Creative Commons license
open archive

Abstract

Ever since the discovery that telomeres are short in cancer cells and telomerase is activated in immortal cells, telomerase has been an oncogene wannabe. Oncogenes have been the glamour genes of molecular biology for 20 years, garnering flashy headlines and name recognition. More recently, tumor-suppressor genes have joined oncogenes on center stage. Recent evidence has shown that MYC upregulates the catalytic subunit of telomerase, TERT, and that TERT cooperates with HPV E7 in cell immortalization. This evidence now supports the placement of telomerase among the cancer gene elite.

Keywords

Cell biology
Genetics
Virology

Keywords

telomerase
telomere
oncogene
cancer
signal transduction
MYC
mouse

Cited by (0)