Definition of "telomerase" [telomerase]

• An enzyme that is found in the telomeres of chromosomes in germ cells, stem cells, and most cancer cells and that preserves the length of telomeres across cell divisions. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "I was working with an enzyme called telomerase, which is found only in cancer cells."
• "The researchers will focus on an enzyme called telomerase, which is believed to play a key role in enabling cells to renew themselves, and which in adult hearts is found mainly in the specialised cardiac progenitor cells."
• "We know that telomerase is the enzyme that is needed to put the repeats on."