This book is a comprehensive and up-to-date review and evaluation of the contemporary status of telomerase research.  Chapters in this volume cover the basic structure, mechanisms, and diversity of the essential and regulatory subunits of telomerase.  Other topics include telomerase biogenesis, transcriptional and post-translational regulation, off-telomere functions of telomerase and the role of telomerase in cellular senescence, aging and cancer. Its relationship to retrotransposons, a class of mobile genetic elements that shares similarities with telomerase and serves as telomeres in selected organisms, are also reviewed.

Content:
Chapter 1 The Telomerase Complex: An Overview (pages 1–21): Johanna Mancini and Chantal Autexier
Chapter 2 Telomerase RNA: Structure, Function, and Molecular Mechanisms (pages 23–51): Yehuda Tzfati and Julian J.?L. Chen
Chapter 3 TERT Structure, Function, and Molecular Mechanisms (pages 53–78): Emmanuel Skordalakes and Neal F. Lue
Chapter 4 Telomerase Biogenesis: RNA Processing, Trafficking, and Protein Interactions (pages 79–103): Tara Beattie and Pascal Chartrand
Chapter 5 Transcriptional Regulation of Human Telomerase (pages 105–134): Antonella Farsetti and Yu?sheng Cong
Chapter 6 Telomerase Regulation and Telomere?Length Homeostasis (pages 135–156): Joachim Lingner and David Shore
Chapter 7 Telomere Structure in Telomerase Regulation (pages 157–199): Momchil D. Vodenicharov and Raymund J. Wellinger
Chapter 8 Off?Telomere Functions of Telomerase (pages 201–212): Kenkichi Masutomi and William C. Hahn
Chapter 9 Murine Models of Dysfunctional Telomeres and Telomerase (pages 213–242): Yie Liu and Lea Harrington
Chapter 10 Cellular Senescence, Telomerase, and Cancer in Human Cells (pages 243–263): Phillip G. Smiraldo, Jun Tang, Jerry W. Shay and Woodring E. Wright
Chapter 11 Telomerase, Retrotransposons, and Evolution (pages 265–299): Irina R. Arkhipova