Library / English Dictionary

TELOMERE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Either (free) end of a eukaryotic chromosome

Example:

telomeres act as caps to keep the sticky ends of chromosomes from randomly clumping together

Classified under:

Nouns denoting body parts

Hypernyms ("telomere" is a kind of...):

end; terminal (either extremity of something that has length)

Holonyms ("telomere" is a part of...):

chromosome (a threadlike strand of DNA in the cell nucleus that carries the genes in a linear order)

Credits

 Context examples: 

In mammalian cells, this complex is important for double-strand break repair, meiotic recombination, and telomere maintenance.

(MRE11/RAD50 Double-Strand Break Repair Complex, NCI Thesaurus/from OMIM)

This gene plays a role in DNA unwinding and recombination-mediated telomere lengthening.

(BLM Gene, NCI Thesaurus)

Inhibition of telomerase activity in tumor cells by imetelstat results in telomere shortening, which leads to cell cycle arrest or apoptosis.

(Imetelstat, NCI Thesaurus)

Telomeres are the ends of chromosomes, the shortening of which can cause cell ageing and the lengthening of which can cause cancer.

(Long-term consumption of sunflower and fish oils damages the liver, University of Granada)

FJ5002 inhibits telomerase by interfering with holoenzyme assembly and telomere interaction, thus leading to replication-dependent shortening of telomeres with a concurrent increase in aneuploid metaphases and apoptotic cells.

(FJ5002, NCI Thesaurus)

Telomerase is involved in the restoration and maintenance of telomere length and so the functional lifespan of cells.

(hTERT Vaccine V934/V935, NCI Thesaurus)

The team collected blood samples from the meerkats, and measured DNA sections called telomeres that help protect DNA from damage – much like the plastic caps on shoe-laces.

(Breeder meerkats age faster, but their subordinates still die younger, University of Cambridge)

Meanwhile, fish oil intensified oxidation associated with ageing, lowered mitochondrial electron transport chain activity and altered the relative telomere length.

(Long-term consumption of sunflower and fish oils damages the liver, University of Granada)

While the telomeres of subordinate meerkats remained stable, dominant telomeres shrunk by a third in just 18 months – suggesting accelerated ageing caused by the toils of raising young and fending off rivals.

(Breeder meerkats age faster, but their subordinates still die younger, University of Cambridge)