Human telomerase catalytic subunit
AssigneesGeron Corporation, The Regents of the University of Colorado
InventorsThomas Cech, Joachim Lingner, Toru Nakamura, Karen Chapman, Gregg Morin, Calvin Harley, William Andrews
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Abstract
The invention provides compositions and methods related to human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTRT), the catalytic protein subunit of human telomerase. The polynucleotides and polypeptides of the invention are useful for diagnosis, prognosis and treatment of human diseases, for changing the proliferative capacity of cells and organisms, and for identification and screening of compounds and treatments useful for treatment of diseases such as cancers.
Claims20
An isolated, substantially pure, or recombinant protein preparation of a human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTRT) protein, or a variant thereof, or a fragment thereof.
A method of detecting the presence of at least one telomerase positive human cell in a biological sample comprising human cells, said method comprising the steps:
- a) measuring the amount of an hTRT gene product in said sample,
- b) comparing the amount measured with a control correlating to a sample lacking telomerase positive cells,
- wherein the presence of a higher level of the hTRT gene product in said sample as compared to said control is correlated with the presence of telomerase positive cells in the biological sample.
A method for treatment of a condition associated with an elevated level of telomerase activity within a cell, comprising introducing into said cell a therapeutically effective amount of an inhibitor of said telomerase activity, wherein said inhibitor is an hTRT polypeptide, an antibody that binds hTRT, or an hTRT polynucleotide.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.