During genome replication, telomerase adds repeats to the ends of chromosomes to balance the loss of telomeric DNA. The regulation of telomerase activity is of medical relevance, as it has been implicated in human diseases such as cancer, as well as in aging. Until recently, structural information on this enzyme that would facilitate its clinical manipulation had been lacking due to telomerase very low abundance in cells. Recent cryo-EM structures of both the human and Tetrahymena thermophila telomerases have provided a picture of both the shared catalytic core of telomerase and its interaction with species-specific factors that play different roles in telomerase RNP assembly and function. We discuss also progress toward an understanding of telomerase RNP biogenesis and telomere recruitment from recent studies.

中文翻译：

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端粒酶结构和调控：揭示染色体末端。

在基因组复制过程中，端粒酶会在染色体末端添加重复序列以平衡端粒 DNA 的丢失。端粒酶活性的调节具有医学意义，因为它与癌症等人类疾病以及衰老有关。直到最近，由于端粒酶在细胞中的丰度非常低，因此一直缺乏有助于其临床操作的这种酶的结构信息。最近人类和嗜热四膜虫端粒酶的冷冻电镜结构提供了端粒酶的共享催化核心及其与在端粒酶 RNP 组装和功能中发挥不同作用的物种特异性因子相互作用的图片。我们还讨论了从最近的研究中了解端粒酶 RNP 生物发生和端粒募集的进展。