Telomerase

1
Telomerase

• Targets for Cancer Treatment

2
The ends of chromosomes

• DNA polymerase has trouble copying the tips of
  chromosomes- so why dont we loose a little bit
  of information each time the cell replicates?

3
Telomeres- the ends of shoe laces
http//www.indiamart.com/srivaishnavi/shoes-laces-
cords-and-tapes.html
http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FileTelomere_caps.gi
f
4
DNA cap

• The DNA that is lost each time is useless DNA-
  it is just repeating meaningless bases
• The length of this region keeps track of how old
  the cell is
• Once the telomere gets too short the cell is
  programmed- it knows- to die

5
Hayflick Limit

• A cell can only divide so many times before it
  dies
• In the lab we keep track of how many plates the
  cells have filled- we know when theyre getting
  old
• People had observed this and didnt know why it
  happened

6
Telomerase

• Telomerase adds telomeres to the ends of
  chromosomes- keeping a cell line alive longer
• A cell line is a family of cells that all came
  from a single parent cell
• Some people have speculated that it could turn
  back aging- why?

7
Cancer and telomerase

• What will be different about telomerase in cancer
  cells?