Sigma-Aldrich Trapeze Telomerase Detection

Telomeres are specific structures found at the ends of chromosomes in
eukaryotes. In human chromosomes, telomeres consist of thousands of copies of 6 base repeats (TTAGGG). It has been suggested that telomeres protect chromosome ends, because damaged chromosomes lacking telomeres undergo fusion, rearrangement and translocation. In somatic cells, telomere length is progressively shortened with each cell division both in vivo and in vitro, due to the inability of the DNA polymerase complex to replicate the very 5′ endof the lagging strand .
Telomerase is a ribonucleoprotein that synthesizes and directs the telomeric
repeats onto the 3′ end of existing telomeres using its RNA component as a
template. Telomerase activity has been shown to be specifically expressed in immortal cells, cancer and germ cells, where it compensates for telomere shortening during DNA replication and thus stabilizes telomere length. These observations have led to a hypothesis that telomere length may function as a “mitotic clock” to sense cell aging and eventually signal replicative senescence or programmed cell death. Therefore, expression of telomerase activity in cancer cells may be a necessary and essential step for tumor development and progression. The causal relationship between expression of telomerase and telomere length stabilization and the extension of the life span of the human cell has recently been reported.

The TRAPeze Telomerase Detection Kit is a highly sensitive in vitro assay system for detecting telomerase activity. The assay is a one-buffer, two-enzyme, system utilizing PCR to enhance the sensitivity of telomerase detection in small samples.



Recommended Taq polymerases: must be non-proofreading, having no exonuclease activity and capable of "hot-start." Titanium Taq, Platinum Taq are suggested.

TRAPEZE is a trademark of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany

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