Revista de bioquímica y biología molecular Acceso abierto

Abstracto

Telomerase and Cancer Research

Robson Jose de Oliveira Junior

Telomerase activity has always been an exciting subject to many fields of scientific research. Since its description by Blackburn´s group in 1985 as a telomere synthesizer, many therapeutic applications have been speculated. Once telomerase is capable to delay the biological clock imposed by telomerese, it has already been considered as a possible fountain of youth. But, when researchers discovered its over-activity in more than 90% of tumors, the possibility of its use as a senescence inhibitor had to be reviewed with caution. Many telomerase inhibition strategies targeting cancer therapy have been developed in the last decades, but paradoxically it is believed that telomerase inactivation caused by transcriptase reverse inhibitors, as the one used in the treatment of some retroviruses, may contribute to accelerated aging and other collateral effects observed in the treatment of HIV-infected individuals. One alternative to solve this paradox would be a directed cell-type specific delivery. Today it is known that beyond telomere maintenance, telomerase plays many other important roles at cellular environment and its comprehension can bring new breakthrough s in cancer research and other areas of the scientific knowledge.