Activation of TERT in breast cancer

大多数癌症发展的关键步骤是启动一种酶，端粒酶，使癌细胞无限制地生长。我们将研究这一步骤的分子细节，使用新技术对实验室中生长的人类乳腺细胞的基因组进行功能分析。阻断端粒酶对癌症治疗有很大的潜力，因此分析这种酶是如何被打开的可能会发现实现乳腺癌和其他癌症治疗的新策略。

A key step in the development of most cancers is the switching on of an enzyme, telomerase, that allows cancer cells to keep growing without limit. We will study the molecular details of this step using new techniques for functional analyses of the genome in human breast cells grown in the laboratory. Blocking telomerase has great potential for cancer treatment, so analysing how this enzyme gets switched on may identify new strategies for achieving this for breast cancer - and other cancers.