Researchers at the Children’s Medical Research Institute have identified a group of proteins, NONO, SFPQ, and PSPC1, all part of the DBHS family, that play a crucial role in helping telomerase reach and maintain telomeres. Telomerase is the enzyme responsible for rebuilding telomeres, the protective caps at the ends of chromosomes that naturally shorten as cells divide. Without these DBHS proteins, telomerase struggles to access telomeres, which means the cell cannot properly maintain chromosome stability.
This finding is important because telomere maintenance lies at the center of both aging and cancer biology. When telomeres become too short, cells enter senescence or die, a key driver of aging and age-related diseases. But in many cancers, telomerase often becomes overactive, allowing cancer cells to divide indefinitely. By uncovering the proteins that guide and support telomerase, scientists are focusing on creating drugs that block these proteins which could limit cancer cell immortality and treatments that support them to help slow down cellular aging.
The related article on telomere inheritance provides valuable context, but the major breakthrough lies in identifying the proteins that regulate telomerase activity opening the door to more precise control over telomere length in future medical research.
Main article: https://phys.org/news/2025-07-identification-proteins-telomerase-impact-aging.pdf
2nd article: https://phys.org/news/2025-09-biologists-reveal-telomere-length-inheritance.html
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