Devil Facial Disease

Instead of losing telomeres after each reproduction, the cells replenish, or lengthen, the telomeres using an enzyme called telomerase.

The length of the telomere indicates age-related diseases, unhealthy lifestyle, and longevity in the lifespan.

Devil Facial Tumor Disease (DFTD) can be recognized by lumps around the face and neck.

Tasmanian devil (Sarcophilus harrisii) populations on the island of Tasmania have experienced a rapid decline during the past twenty years due to the spread of a cancer called Devil Facial Tumor Disease or DFTD. DFTD is a deadly contagious cancer that is characterized by red oozing lesions or tumors that form on the face and mouth of the Tasmanian devil. The cancer spreads from one devil to another when a DFTD infected devil bites a healthy devil thereby infecting the open wounds with cancer cells. Once contracted the devil dies within six months due to infection or starvation because the tumors in mouth hinder feeding. However, researches lead by biologist Andrew Storfer have discovered that some Tasmanian devil populations have evolved a

Telomerase (or terminal transferase) is an enzyme made of proteins, specifically reverse transcriptase (Telomerase Reverse Transcriptase-TERT), and RNA subunits. Nonetheless, chicken TERT (chTERT) shares 45% amino acid identity with human TERT (hTERT). However, chTERT is larger than the hTERT because of an extensive N-terminal flexible linker region. Also, chTERT is found on chromosome 2q21 near an interstitial telomere site. Generally, the role of this enzyme is to elongate the end of chromosomes by adding the repeated base sequence of TTAGGG, as described above. This enzyme can be found in fetal tissue, germ cells, and tumor cells. Telomerase activity is critical high on development because of the continued growth and division of the cells.

Malignancies, pulmonary fibrosis, and liver cirrhosis, other signs, could be developed for patients with dyskeratosis. in a similar way proved that can be used as a special diagnostic marker for scan of a large, nonconsanguineous and also with no mutations in DKC1, TERC, or TERT. Autosomal forms of dyskeratosis congenita are formed because of mutations in TERT, TERC, NHP2, NOP10 the last two are proteins associated with the telomerase complex and their mutations are discovered in autosomal recessive cases, or TINF2 these mutations cause telomere shortening by telomerase complex or, while, TINF2, lead to deprotection of telomeres.

Targeting these Telomere/Shelterin compounds may be useful to suppress the tumour cells, killing it off.Grueber CE et al. 2015

Devil facial tumour disease, also known as DFTD, is a clonally transmissible cancer exclusively found in the Tasmanian Devil (Sarcophilus harrisii)(C.E Hawkins et al., 2006). It is transmitted as an allograft (Pearse & Swift, 2006), making it an extremely abnormal disease, as it is one of very few known transmissible cancers. The other known transmissible cancers are Canine Transmissible Venereal Tumor (CTVT) in Dogs (Murgia et al., 2006), Contagious Reticulum Cell Sarcoma in Syrian Hamsters (Cooper et al.,1964) and a form of transmissible Leukaemia in Soft-Shelled Clams (Metzger et al. 2015). Out of the other three known transmissible cancers, only CTVT is spread as an allograft, like DFTD.

AGAROSE GEL ELECTROPHORESIS I. INTRODUCTION Agarose gel electrophoresis (AGE) is the most common and effective way of separating and analyzing DNA fragments of different sizes (Lee & Costumbrado, 2012). The agarose gel, at the time that it is completely polymerized, acts as a molecular sieve that, in the existence of electric current, pull apart DNA by their molecular weight and size. AGE is not mostly used to visualize DNA but also used for quantification or to single out a particular band. The DNA is visualized in the gel by staining with of ethidium bromide (EtBr).

350 of each sample are loaded on the gel. Based on Genomic Solutions, once fixing the changes of fresh 40% methanol and 10% glacial acetic acid for every 12 hour each, the gels were stained for 12 hours with Sypro Ruby solution in the dark. The gels were incubated in 10% methanol: 6% acetic acid for 4 hours for destaining procedure. The gels are the imaged by using ProPick Workstation. Triangulation and robotic excision are conducted for identification of protein spots. It was then submitted to tandem mass spectrometric analysis.

Hello Amy. I enjoyed reading your post. Individuals with telomere disorder have shorter telomeres for their age. One example of telomere disorder is Dyskeratosis congenita. This disorder caused by a mutation of TERT, TERC, DKC1 or TINF2 genes. Affected individuals have multiple medical problems affecting the nails, oral mucosa, and skin. They are also high risk of developing life-threatening conditions such as cancer and bone marrow failure. “Increasing telomerase levels ought to lengthen telomeres but in the case of cancer, too much telomerase can be just as bad as too little telomeres” (Rehman, 2014). Telomerase could slow down the aging process, but it could also increase the risk of developing cancer. Great job Michaela

The cell is busier than the streets of New York, and when it splits, it must have everything go perfectly. If the chromosomes were to break down, the DNA it is holding could be damaged. That could be catastrophic for the cell. This is where telomere comes in. Telomere is a small area of nucleotides that repeat at the end of every chromosome to keep the chromosome from falling apart and breaking down. But, the telomere doesn’t just appear out of nowhere. It is created just like everything else, with DNA. Nobel Prize winner cell biologist Carol W. Greider discovered the enzyme telomerase. Telomerase is what creates the DNA found in telomere.

The standard method to measure average of chromosome telomere lengths is the and impractical for high-throughput screening. Cautious interpretation is cautioned when evaluating with controls, due to the fact telomere length varies with ethnicity.

Time is of the essence! By the end of this research paper the reader will know the reasoning behind time itself. A telomere is quite significant because it can detect cancer, diseases, and aging. The telomer was discovered around the 1960’s by Dr. Leonard Hayflick he discovered it by learning about how long a cell can live. There are billions of cells through plants, animals, and humans it’s how an organism operates. A telomer is at the end of each chromosome inside a eukaryote cell (Plant and Animal Cell) and its importance is copying DNA (Deoxyribonucleic Acid). DNA is the genetics that we obtain through our parents. If we could preserve the telomer to be continuous then organisms can become eternal. A telomer holds the true meaning of

Throughout the past years, research of this unexpected instability has created a number of surprising discoveries. As a matter of fact, it has led to the findings of a great enzyme named telomerase that acts on telomeres and is thought to be required for the maintenance of many human cancers. Telomerase, the ends of the chromosomes, are eukaryotic ribonucleoprotein complex, which contains both an essential RNA and a protein reverse transcriptase subunit. They are meant to protect the chromosomal ends. They basically cap the ends of the chromosomes, thus protecting the ends. Unlike viral or retroviral reverse transcriptase’s, like the ones on HIV-1, the cellular enzyme telomerase focuses in making the multiple short tandem repeats that are at