端粒酶逆转录酶的新生物学功能

The New Biological Functions of Telomerase Reverse Transcriptase

端粒酶是一种具有逆转录活性的核糖核蛋白聚合酶。端粒酶活性主要取决于具有催化活性的端粒酶逆转录酶(telomerase reverse transcriptase,TERT)的转录调节,端粒酶活性与TERT基因的表达呈正相关。TERT的经典功能是合成端粒DNA、维持端粒稳定性,赋予细胞无限增殖的潜能。然而,近几年的研究热点主要集中在TERT独立于维持端粒长度之外的新生物学功能。近年的研究发现,TERT在基因转录调控、肿瘤发生、血管新生、免疫炎症等方面具有不依赖端粒的新功能。本文全面总结和探讨了端粒酶催化亚基TERT独立于维持端粒长度之外的新生物学功能及其作用机制,为治疗端粒酶所调控的人类相关疾病提供重要见解和理论依据。

Telomerase is a ribonucleoprotein polymerase with reverse transcriptase activity. Telomerase activity mainly depends on the transcriptional regulation of telomerase reverse transcriptase（ TERT） with catalytic activity. Telomerase activity is positively correlated with the expression of TERT gene. The classical function of TERT is to synthesize telomere DNA and maintain telomere stability,and provide cells with the potential for unlimited proliferation. However,recent studies have focused on the new biological functions of TERT which are independent of maintaining telomere length. In recent years,it has been found that TERT has novel telomere independent functions in gene transcription regulation,tumorigenesis,angiogenesis,immune inflammation and so on. In this paper,the new biological functions and mechanisms of telomerase catalytic subunit TERT independent of maintaining telomere length are summarized and discussed,which provides important insights and theoretical basis for the treatment of human diseases regulated by telomerase.