I need help in Biology II !!?
Can anybody explain me this paragrpah?:
“One of the key steps in carcinogenic transformation is the induction of telomerase. This keeps the telomeres long, so there is generation of recombinagenic chromosome ends and no DNA damage response. Thus, the induction of telomerase in somatic cells prevents induction of apoptosis and is an oncogenic mutation.”
It’s in my notes and i don’t understand what this part means…
Thank you !
chromosomes become unstable after dividing many, many times, and mutations develop. Telomeres often shorten as this process occurs, and short telomeres destabilize the chromosomes and signal to the cell that it needs to die (apoptosis). If the cell doesn’t die, and its DNA integrity is compromised by having too many divisions, it becomes a tumor. If you have a mutation in the telomerase enzyme that causes it to keep telomeres long, the signal that the cell needs to die wont occur. The cell will accumulate mutated DNA and it will continue to divide making more mutated cells, and these cells are unable to die. This uncontrolled mutant cell growth is a tumor.
Dr. Feng Qiao – Non-Coding RNA / Telomere and Telomerase / Structural Biology – TAMU