Cloning and molecular characterization of telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) and telomere length analysis of Peromyscus leucopus.

ABSTRACT: Telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) is the catalytic subunit of telomerase complex that regulates telomerase activity to maintain telomere length for all animals with linear chromosomes. As the Mus musculus (MM) laboratory mouse has very long telomeres compared to humans, a potential alternative animal model for telomere research is the Peromyscus leucopus (PL) mouse that has telomere lengths close to the human range and has the wild counterparts for comparison. We report the full TERT coding sequence (pTERT) from PL mice to use in the telomere research. Comparative analysis with eight other mammalian TERTs revealed a pTERT protein considerably homologous to other TERTs and preserved all TERT specific-sequence signatures, yet with some distinctive features. pTERT displayed the highest

SUBMITTER: Zhao X 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4470739 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature