Rapid quantification of telomerase activity in liver tissue samples to detect human hepatocellular carcinoma

Telomerase, a ribonucleoprotein with reverse transcriptase activity, enables human cells to maintain chromosome stability and to proliferate without limits. Various studies demonstrated telomerase reactivation in human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Therefore, quantification of telomerase activity has been proposed to detect and classify HCC. However, up until now conventional PCR-based assays have demonstrated only limited applicability due to complex and time-consuming post-amplification procedures. In this study, a novel rapid closed-tube system, based on the telomeric repeat amplification protocol (TRAP), h…