Telomerase is an RNA-dependent DNA polymerase that catalyzes the addition of telomeric repeat sequences to chromosome ends. In most human somatic cells, telomerase activity is undetectable, and telomeres shorten with successive cell divisions. However, telomerase activity is detectable in immortal cells and in many human tumors. Two candidate mammalian telomerase proteins have been cloned. Human TP1 (for telomerase-associated protein 1), also designated TLP1 in rat (for telomerase protein component 1), is homologous to the Tetrahymena p80 telomerase protein and has been shown to interact with mammalian telomerase RNA. Human TERT (for telomerase reverse transcriptase), also designated hEST2 (for ever shorter telomeres), is homologous to the p123 telomerase protein from Euplotes and to the yeast Est2 protein. Expression of TERT mRNA has been shown to correlate with telomerase activity in various cell lines.
