Intensive inhibition of hTERT expression by a ribozyme induces rapid apoptosis of cancer cells through a telomere length-independent pathway.

Restoration of telomerase activity is essential for most of the malignancies. Telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) is the key component of telomerase. In this study, we designed a hammerhead ribozyme against human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) and observed its growth inhibition and pro-apoptosis effects on cancer cells.