1- Division of genetics, Department of biology, Faculty of science, University of Isfahan, Isfahan.
Abstract: (14144 Views)
Telomeres are specific nucleoprotein complexes, which composed of hundreds to thousands TTAGGG tandem repeats. They are localized at both terminal regions of chromosomes and they protect chromosome ends from recombination and degradation. A multiprotein complex, known as Shelterin, binds to TTAGGG repeats and maintains the structure and the length of telomeres. Telomerase, which is necessary for telomere length stabilization during cell cycle, is repressed in somatic cells whereas it is active in several cancer tissues. The structure and the length of telomere have an important role in different cell processes. The use of molecular cytogenetic techniques has led to identify several chromosomal aberrations associated with telomeres. Recent developments in medical genetics represent a broad spectrum of diseases associated with telomere. In the present article the structure and function of telomeres are reviewed and a number of diseases associated with telomeres will be mentioned.