Abstract
Telomeres are essential nucleoprotein structures at linear chromosomes that maintain genome integrity by protecting chromosome ends from being recognized and processed as damaged DNA. In addition, they limit the cell’s proliferative capacity, as progressive loss of telomeric DNA during successive rounds of cell division eventually causes a state of telomere dysfunction that prevents further cell division. When telomeres become critically short, the cell elicits a DNA damage response resulting in senescence, apoptosis or genomic instability, thereby impacting on aging and tumorigenesis. Over the past years substantial progress has been made in understanding the role of post-translational modifications in telomere-related processes, including telomere maintenance, replication and dysfunction. This review will focus on recent findings that establish an essential role for ubiquitination and SUMOylation at telomeres.
Highlights
Genome stability is essential for cells to function properly and ensure the survival of an organism
The protein complex shelterin, consisting of TRF1, TRF2, TIN2, POT1, TPP1 and RAP1, binds to telomeric repeats and mediates the formation of a telomeric loop (T-loop) in which the single-stranded 3 -overhang is concealed in a D-loop (Griffith et al, 1999; Doksani et al, 2013)
Replication of telomeres is initiated by the polymerase alpha-primase (PP) complex, which consists of subunits that have polymerase and primase activity (Pellegrini, 2012)
Summary
Department of Molecular Oncology, Netherlands Cancer Institute, Amsterdam, Netherlands Reviewed by: Anabelle Decottignies, Université catholique de Louvain, Belgium Howard Donninger, University of Louisville, United States Specialty section: This article was submitted to Cancer Genetics, a section of the journal
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