哺乳动物早期胚胎端粒和端粒酶重编程

Telomere and telomerase reprogramming in early mammalian embryo development

端粒位于真核染色体末端,是稳定染色体末端的重要元件。端粒酶(TER)是一种特殊的细胞核糖核蛋白(RNP)反转录酶(RT),其核心酶包括蛋白亚基和RNA元件。在DNA复制过程中的端粒丢失可以被有活性的端粒酶修复回来。哺乳动物端粒酶在发育中受调控,端粒的重编程可能是由于早期胚胎不同时期的端粒酶活性而造成的。因此,研究端粒和端粒酶重编程在早期胚胎发育中是非常重要的。该文综述了端粒和端粒酶的结构和功能,及其与哺乳动物早期胚胎发育的关系,并在此基础上展望了端粒和端粒酶在克隆动物胚胎发育的基础研究。

Telomeres are the specialized DNA-protein structures at the ends of eukaryotic chromosomes, allow- ing the stable maintenance of chromosome during multiple cell divisions, while telomerase is a specialized cellular ribonucleoprotein （RNP） reverse transcriptase （RT）, with core enzyme containing the protein subunit and the RNA component. Telomeres lost during DNA replication can be added back by the activity of telomerase, regulated in the mammalian development. The telomere rebuilding may be attributed to the reprogramming of telomerase activity at the different stages in the early embryo development. Therefore, investigating telomere and telomerase reprogramming during early embryo development is of great importance. Here, an overview of structure and function in telomere and telomerase, and related study on embryo development in mammalian cloned animal, will be represented.