Progress in structural studies of telomerase

Edward J Miracco; Jiansen Jiang; Darian D Cash; Juli Feigon

doi:10.1016/j.sbi.2014.01.008

Progress in structural studies of telomerase

Curr Opin Struct Biol. 2014 Feb:24:115-24. doi: 10.1016/j.sbi.2014.01.008. Epub 2014 Feb 4.

Authors

Edward J Miracco¹, Jiansen Jiang², Darian D Cash¹, Juli Feigon³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.
² Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA; Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Molecular Genetics, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA; California Nanosystems Institute, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.
³ Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA; California Nanosystems Institute, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA. Electronic address: [email protected].

Abstract

Telomerase is the ribonucleoprotein (RNP) reverse transcriptase responsible for synthesizing the 3' ends of linear chromosomes. It plays critical roles in tumorigenesis, cellular aging, and stem cell renewal. The past two years have seen exciting progress in determining telomerase holoenzyme architecture and the structural basis of telomerase activity. Notably, the first electron microscopy structures of telomerase were reported, of the Tetrahymena thermophila telomerase holoenzyme and a human telomerase dimer. In addition to new structures of TERT and TER domains, the first structures of telomerase protein domains beyond TERT, and their complexes with TER or telomeric single-stranded DNA, were reported. Together these studies provide the first glimpse into the organization of the proteins and RNA in the telomerase RNP.

Publication types

Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.
Review

MeSH terms

Animals
Humans
Models, Molecular
Protein Multimerization
Telomerase / chemistry*
Telomerase / metabolism
Tetrahymena thermophila / chemistry
Tetrahymena thermophila / enzymology

Substances

Telomerase

Abstract

Publication types

MeSH terms

Substances

Grants and funding