Human Telomerase

Like the ciliate telomerases, human telomerase has an RNA component and a reverse transcriptase protein component. The human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) was identified in 1997. Other proteins affect telomerase function—for example, telomerase interaction with the protein Ever Shorter Telomeres 1 (EST1) is important for maintaining telomere length.

A blue strand of telomerase R-N-A weaves through human telomerase reverse transcriptase, a template region, and the E-S-T-1 accessory factor.