Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Sommer A
PROVIDER: S-EPMC7073516 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jan
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
One of the hallmarks of cancer cells is their indefinite replicative potential, made possible by the activation of a telomere maintenance mechanism (TMM). The majority of cancers reactivate the reverse transcriptase, telomerase, to maintain their telomere length but a minority (10% to 15%) utilize an alternative lengthening of telomeres (ALT) pathway. Here, we review the phenotypes and molecular markers specific to ALT, and investigate the significance of telomere mutations and sequence variatio ...[more]