Scientists see inner workings of enzyme telomerase, which plays key roles in aging, cancer

Cancer, aging-related diseases and other illnesses are closely tied to an important enzyme called “telomerase.” UCLA researchersreport in the journal  Cell the deepest scientific understanding yet of this once-mysterious enzyme, whose catalytic core — where most of its activity occurs — can now be seen in near atomic resolution.“We’re now seeing not just the face of the clock, we’re seeing how the components inside interact to make it work,” said Juli Feigon, a professor of chemistry and biochemistry in the UCLA College and a senior author of the study. “At each step, we zoom in closer and see more and more details, and can now begin to deduce not just what the enzyme looks like, but also how it functions. Knowing that may lead to the development of new drugs that target specific parts of the enzyme.”In addition to reporting the highest level of detail ever seen of the structure of telomerase ’s catalytic core, shown in the animation below, the researchers report for the first time they have captured telomerase in the process of making DNA.“For the first time, we have a framework, or blueprint, of telomerase,” said Lukas Susac, a UCLA postdoctoral scholar in Feigon’s laboratory and a co-lead author. “We know people have telomerase mutations and get sick, but we have had no understanding of how this came to be, beyond knowing their telomerase doesn’t work. Now we can say the problem is with a specific site within telomerase and perhaps see wh...
Source: UCLA Newsroom: Health Sciences - Category: Universities & Medical Training Source Type: news