METHOD FOR PREPARING A SOLUBLE AND FUNCTIONAL TELOMERASE COMPLEX IN EUKARYOTIC CELL-FREE SYSTEMS

The present invention relates to a method for preparing a soluble and functional telomerase complex in eukaryotic cell-free systems which comprises at least the following steps: a) providing a reaction medium comprising at least the following components: - a nucleic acid template coding for the telomerase reverse transcriptase subunit (TERT) - a DNA template coding for the intrinsic telomerase RNA (TR), - an RNA polymerase - an eukaryotic cell lysate; b) concomitantly performing a translation reaction to synthesize the telomerase reverse transcriptase subunit (TERT) and a transcription reaction to synthesize the intrinsic telomerase RNA (TR); c) self-assembling of the TERT protein subunit and the TR RNA subunit in the reaction medium to form a functional telomerase complex; d) optionally further purifying and/or isolating the telomerase complex. In more specific embodiments, the telomerase is human telomerase and the eukaryotic cell lysate is selected from the group comprising wheat germ lysates, insect cell lysates, cell extracts from CHO and HEK cells.