Products
Telomerase Activity Assay
Cellular immortalization, one of the hallmarks of cancer, depends on telomere length maintenance mechanisms (TMM) through the activity of either telomerase or alternative lengthening of telomeres (ALT). The telomere repeat amplification protocol (T.R.A.P.) is the most widely used assay for telomerase activity, despite its inherent unreliability due to the presence in crude cell lysates of unknown inhibitors of not only telomerase itself, but also Taq polymerase. With no available alternative, researchers worldwide have until now been unable to… escape the T.R.A.P.
Houdini™ is a direct, precisely quantitative assay of telomerase activity with signal output not a subject to common problems related to PCR contamination. Centralized testing through CBI ensures immediate, accurate, and reliable analysis of telomerase activity in immortalized and tumor cells, as well as in tissue samples. Customers may send tumor samples, cell lines, or total protein extracts.