Telomerase protein component 1 (TEP1)

Telomerase-associated protein 1 (TEP1) is a component of the telomerase ribonucleoprotein complex, which catalyzes the addition of new telomeres on the chromosome ends. This activity is mediated by the catalytic telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) and telomerase RNA component template (TERC).

The ribonucleoprotein complex responsible for telomerase activity had been purified only in ciliates. Purified tetrahymena telomerase contains an RNA and 2 protein components, p80 and p95. The p80 component can be specifically cross linked to telomerase RNA, whereas the p95 component binds and cross links to single-stranded, telomeric DNA (Harrington et al., 1997).