Telomerase is the specialized enzyme which replicates the telomeres, thus maintaining the integrity of the chromosome ends; in absence of enzyme activity telomere lengths decrease, ultimately impacting genome stability. In this study, we examined the mRNA expression of both enzyme components, the RNA template (TR) and catalytic subunit (TERT) during growth and development of the chicken to better understand mechanisms which regulate telomerase activity in vertebrates. Quantitative real-time PCR was used to establish transcript profiles for six ages ranging from pre-blastula to two-year old adults. Organ-specific profiles were established for brain, heart, liver, intestine, spleen and gonad. The pre-blastula and gastrula stages exhibited very high transcript levels of both telomerase components; organs from the embryos and adult showed transcript levels either similar or down-regulated relative to the early differentiation embryo stages. Organs which are known to become negative for telomerase activity between the embryo and adult stages (brain, heart, liver) exhibited down-regulation of TR and either no change or an increase in TERT transcripts. Whereas, organs which maintain high telomerase activity even in adults (intestine, spleen, gonad), generally exhibited up-regulation of transcripts for both components. However, there were some tissue-specific differences between telomerase-positive tissues. These results show that TERT and TR transcript levels correlate with telomerase activity profiles and suggest that TR is the rate-limiting component in telomerase-negative tissues.
Keywords: TERT; TR; chicken; development; qPCR; telomerase; telomere; transcription.