Telomerase Detection Kit
Telomerase is an enzyme that synthesizes telomeres on chromosome ends. Telomeres are DNA sequences found at the ends of eukaryotic chromosomes, which maintain the fidelity of genetic information during replication. Under normal circumstances, telomeres become shorter and shorter with each cycle of cell division. A sufficiently short telomere is believed to signal the cells to stop dividing.
Telomerase belongs to a class of enzymes known as reverse transcriptases that use RNA as a template for creating DNA. Telomerase contains both RNA and protein components. The RNA portion of the enzyme binds to the DNA in the telomere while the protein component lures DNA subunits into the region and attaches them to the end of the chromosome. In the case of eukaryotic organisms, telomerases are composed of an accumulation of repeated defined nucleotide sequences (repeats), which for example contain the sequence TTAGGG in humans.
Telomerase activity is expressed in most human tumor tissues but not in normal tissues except those of the germline (testes/ovaries). Stem cells of renewing tissues express very low levels of telomerase. Telomerase activity is occasionally detected in tissues adjacent to tumors possibly reflecting the presence of occult micrometastases.
It has been suggested that telomerase is responsible for the unchecked growth of human cancer cells. Unlike normal cells, in cancer cells telomerase appears to grant the cell immortality by maintaining telomere length so that the cell never receives a signal to stop dividing. The telomerase enzyme is an ideal target for chemotherapy because this enzyme is active in about 90 percent of human tumors, but inactive in most normal cells.
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Note, Roche LightCycler may have problems when using our kit
The Roche lightcycler has a BSA problem. The customer needs to add BSA (BSA may be required if the reaction is run on a Roche LightCycler. A final BSA concentration of 0.5mg/mL may be sufficient.) to the mixture to resolve the problem if they prefer to use lightcycler.
Please see these links for more information.
http://www.etendx.com/support/EvaGreen_20X.pdf
http://www.wistar.org/research_facilities/facilities/genomics/realtime_qPCR.pdf
http://www.bio.net/bionet/mm/methods/1999-September/078069.html
http://www.bio.net/bionet/mm/methods/2000-October/085668.html
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