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. 2021 Dec 14;10(12):3528. doi: 10.3390/cells10123528

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© 2021 by the authors.

Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

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Mitochondrial functions of TERT in the cardiovascular system. In the mitochondria, Telomerase Reverse Transcriptase (TERT) binds to mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and protects it against damage. In addition, mitochondrial TERT improves the stoichiometry of the different subunits of complex I of the electron transport chain. Moreover, an increase in mitochondrial TERT reduces the levels of Prohibitin (PHB) in these organelles, which—when in excess—stabilizes free matrix arm subunits of complex I of the electron transport chain resulting in increased production of mitochondrial superoxide. Consequently, mitochondrial TERT improves complex I composition and activity, decreases mitochondrial reactive oxygen levels, and, thereby, contributes to enhanced mitochondrial functionality.