This book is a comprehensive and up-to-date review and evaluation of the contemporary status of telomerase research. Chapters in this volume cover the basic structure, mechanisms, and diversity of the essential and regulatory subunits of telomerase. Other topics include telomerase biogenesis, transcriptional and post-translational regulation, off-telomere functions of telomerase and the role of telomerase in cellular senescence, aging and cancer. Its relationship to retrotransposons, a class of mobile genetic elements that shares similarities with telomerase and serves as telomeres in selected organisms, are also reviewed.
Preface
Chapter 1 The Telomerase Complex: An Overview
Chapter 2 Telomerase RNA: Structure, Function and Molecular Mechanisms
Chapter 3 TERT Structure, Function and Molecular Mechanisms
Chapter 4 Telomerase Biogenesis: RNA Processing, Trafficking and Protein Interactions
Chapter 5 Transcriptional Regulation of Human Telomerase
Chapter 6 Telomerase Regulation and Telomere Length Homeostasis
Chapter 7 Telomere Structure in Telomerase Regulation
Chapter 8 Off-Telomere Functions of Telomerase
Chapter 9 Murine Models of Dysfunctional Telomeres and Telomerase
Chapter 10 Cellular Senescence, Telomerase, and Cancer in Human Cells
Chapter 11 Telomerase, Retrotransposons and Evolution