Question

Researchers sought to grow blood vessels in a lab for implantation into patients with clogged coronary arteries. To avoid immune rejection, they wanted to grow vessels by starting with patients’ own vascular smooth muscle cells (SMCs). However, most patients requiring coronary artery replacement are elderly, and their vascular SMCs do not divide often enough to grow a new vessel. To get around this problem, the researchers introduced into the cells the gene coding for a particular protein in a format through which the gene would be transcribed and the protein produced. What gene was introduced into the elderly patients' SMCs to allow continued cell divisions?

A.   DNA polymerase

B.   DNA ligase

C.   telomerase

D.   primase

Answer 1

Cells stops dividing after certain defined division because of telomere shorting. Telomeres are replicated by the telomerase enzyme. Normal cells do not have a very high activity and concentration of telomerase as a result every time cell divide the telomere get shorten. So telomerase gene are expressed in order to prevent the telomere shorting as a result of this cells continue to divide.