Telomeres and telomerase activity. Their role in senescence and in neoplastic development

Telomeres are specialized structures at the ends of eukaryotic chromosomes, composed of tandem repeats of a repetitive DNA sequence (TTAGGG)(n) and associated proteins. They have a number of important functions including the protection of chromosomes from end-to-end fusion and degradation. When telomeres become critically short, telomere separation in mitosis cannot be performed properly leading to metaphase telomeric associations (tas) and chromosome instability. This instability can be relevant for neoplastic transformation because it increases the probability of errors that can generate genetic changes critical in the multistep process of transformation, like gene amplification and loss of heterozygosity. The mechanisms involved in tas are unknown, but it could be because of failure in the enzymatic activity of telomerase, a ribonucleoprotein enzyme with an RNA template that directs synthesis of telomeric repeats at chromosome extremities, producing telomeric length stabilization. A progressive telomere shortening with ageing has been shown to occur both in vitro and in vivo. Recent studies have shown an association between the presence of tas and telomeric shortening, and also a correlation between telomere reduction and increased telomerase activity in both solid tumors and hematologic malignancies. The evidence that most human malignancies have telomerase activity would indicate that telomerase could be a prevalent and specific tumor marker, and thus may be a novel and excellent target for anti-cancer therapy.