I am looking at telomerase activity using the TRAP assay, using previously processed samples from peripheral blood that seem to have DNA contamination/telomere fragments.

The problem I am having is that I am seeing some telomerase banding in some samples after heat treating and inactivating the enzyme. Therefore, I am getting a positive signal in what should be my negative controls.

I do not get signal in my CHAPS negative control or heat treated positive control pellet. I have ruled out contamination and uneven heating during heat inactivation.

I would like to try to clean any previous DNA from the samples but leave the telomerase intact and functional.