端聚酶是一种能够维持细胞端区长度的逆转录酶。它能够以自身的ＲＮＡ成分作为模板，催化合成细胞端区序列。在多种肿瘤组织和具“不死性”的细胞株中都发现端聚酶阳性，而在正常组织中，几乎检测不到其活性。端聚酶的检测有可能作为早期肿瘤的诊断手段，其抑制剂可能成为一类新的低副反应的抗肿瘤药物。 Telomerase is a reverse transcriptase that maintains the length of the cell’s end zone. It can catalyze the synthesis of cell end region sequences using its own RNA component as a template. The telomerase was found to be positive in a variety of tumor tissues and “immortal” cell lines, but almost no activity was detected in normal tissues. Detection of telomerase may serve as a diagnostic tool for early tumors, and its inhibitors may become a new class of low-adverse antitumor drugs.