ArticleNucleic acids research2012
Human telomerase acts as a hTR-independent reverse transcriptase in mitochondria.
Article in Nucleic acids research, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 101 papers.
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Who cites it
101 citing papers in PubMed, 180 citations in OpenAlex.
- La1: an evolutionarily conserved player in the Arabidopsis telomerase complex.Plant cell reports · 2026Article
- Gene Therapy Tools for Diseases Caused by Mutations of the Mitochondrial Genome.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Review
- Review
- Nuclear-Mitochondria Crosstalk in Senescent Adipose-Derived Stem Cells.Smart medicine · 2026Review
- Article
- Induction of Cellular Senescence by Pesticide Exposure in Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells (HUVECs): Impacts on Telomerase Length, Cellular Morphology, and mtDNA Variation.Journal of cellular physiology · 2026Article
- TERT translocation to mitochondria: Exploring its role in mitochondrial homeostasis.PLoS genetics · 2025Article
- Telomerase inhibitors TMPyP4 and BIBR 1532 show synergistic antitumor activity in combination with chemotherapeutic drugs.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Telomerase reverse transcriptase degradation via a rationally designed covalent proteolysis targeting chimera.Bioorganic & medicinal chemistry letters · 2025Article
- How to measure and model cardiovascular aging.Cardiovascular research · 2025Review
- Establishment and characterization of Cri Du Chat neuronal stem cells: a novel promising resource to study the syndrome.Human cell · 2025Article
- Beyond Telomeres: Unveiling the Extratelomeric Functions of TERT in B-Cell Malignancies.Cancers · 2025Review
- Discovery and characterization of a novel telomerase alternative splicing isoform that protects lung cancer cells from chemotherapy induced cell death.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Telomeres, telomerase, and cancer: mechanisms, biomarkers, and therapeutics.Experimental hematology & oncology · 2025Review
- Examining transfer of TERT to mitochondria under oxidative stress.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Telomere Reprogramming and Cellular Metabolism: Is There a Link?International journal of molecular sciences · 2024Review
- Is the peripheral microcirculation a window into the human coronary microvasculature?Journal of molecular and cellular cardiology · 2024Review
- Molecular and Evolutionary Analysis of RNA-Protein Interactions in Telomerase Regulation.Non-coding RNA · 2024Review
- Mitochondria and telomeres: hand in glove.Biogerontology · 2024Review
- Article
41 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) is localized to mitochondria, as well as the nucleus, but details about its biology and function in the organelle remain largely unknown. Here we show, using multiple approaches, that mammalian TERT is mitochondrial, co-purifying with mitochondrial nucleoids and tRNAs. We demonstrate the canonical nuclear RNA [human telomerase RNA (hTR)] is not present in human mitochondria and not required for the mitochondrial effects of telomerase, which nevertheless rely on reverse transcriptase (RT) activity. Using RNA immunoprecipitations from whole cell and in organello, we show that hTERT binds various mitochondrial RNAs, suggesting that RT activity in the organelle is reconstituted with mitochondrial RNAs. In support of this conclusion, TERT drives first strand cDNA synthesis in vitro in the absence of hTR. Finally, we demonstrate that absence of hTERT specifically in mitochondria with maintenance of its nuclear function negatively impacts the organelle. Our data indicate that mitochondrial hTERT works as a hTR-independent reverse transcriptase, and highlight that nuclear and mitochondrial telomerases have different cellular functions. The implications of these findings to both the mitochondrial and telomerase fields are discussed.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.