telomerase

American

[tuh-lom-uh-reys, ‑-reyz] / təˈlɒm əˌreɪs, ‑ˌreɪz /

noun

an enzyme, active chiefly in tumors and reproductive cells, that causes telomeres to lengthen: facilitates cell division and may account for the immortality of cancer cells.

telomerase British

/ tɛˈlɒməˌreɪz /

noun

an enzyme that is involved in the formation and repair of telomeres, so that chromosomes are not shortened during cell division

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

telomerase Scientific

/ tə-lŏm′ə-rās′,-rāz′ /

An enzyme that preserves the length of telomeres across cell divisions in germ cells, stem cells, and most cancer cells. A kind of reverse transcriptase, telomerase is an RNA-containing enzyme that synthesizes the DNA of telomeres by reverse transcription. It is active during DNA replication and is thought to play a role in the proliferation and apparent immortality of cells in which it is present. In cells that lack telomerase (that is, in most somatic cells of the body), the telomeres of chromosomes shorten and eventually disappear over repeated cell divisions. The inhibition of telomerase is being investigated as a method of killing cancerous cells.
See more at telomere

Etymology

Origin of telomerase

telomere + -ase

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Using insights from AlphaFold, the team verified experimentally that, in humans, RPA is necessary to activate telomerase and preserve telomere length.

From Science Daily • Dec. 11, 2025

The enzyme telomerase plays a key role in maintaining the length of telomeres as chromosomes replicate during cell division.

From Science Daily • Apr. 11, 2024

"For many decades we thought we knew what the end-replication problem was and how it was solved by telomerase," says de Lange.

From Science Daily • Feb. 28, 2024

Further, telomerase is only part of the solution -- cells also use the CST-Polα-primase complex, which has been extensively studied in de Lange's laboratory.

From Science Daily • Feb. 28, 2024

The presence of telomerase meant cells could keep regenerating their telomeres indefinitely.

From "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" by Rebecca Skloot

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023