Development of cancer molecular therapeutics directed to telomeres and cellular senescence svstems

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Telomeres, the capping structures of chromosome ends, work as a timing device for cellular senescence. We focused on the elomere maintenance system, which supports the immortality of human cancer cells, as a molecular target for cancer therapy. Fist, we constructed a profiling database of structural diversity in telomeres as an analytic platform of this study. By utilizing this database, we demonstrated the functional linkages between telomere/ageing regulators and sensitivities to anticancer drugs, and molecular mechanisms for the anticancer efficacy of a telomerase inhibitor. Furthermore, we discovered a pathological involvement of telomeric factors in mitotic abnormalities of a cell.