Cells immortalized with telomerase reverse transcriptase for use in drug screening
AssigneesGeron Corporation, University Technology Corporation
InventorsThomas R. Cech, Joachim Lingner, Toru Nakamura, Karen B. Chapman, Gregg B. Morin, Calvin B. Harley, William H. 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.
Claims39
A method of drug screening or validation of a drug, comprising:
- a) obtaining a drug or drug candidate,
- b) obtaining a cultured mammalian cell comprising a nucleic acid sequence that encodes a telomerase reverse transcriptase protein, variant, or fragment, wherein said variant, or fragment, has telomerase catalytic activity when complexed with a telomerase RNA, wherein the nucleic acid sequence hybridizes under stringent conditions to a polynucleotide having a sequence complementary to SEQ ID NO:
- 1, and wherein the expression of the protein, variant, or fragment in the cell increases the number of divisions the cell can undergo before senescence;
- c) administering the drug or drug candidate to the cultured cell;
- and
- d) determining if the drug or candidate has an effect on the cell.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.