title: Reduced telomere length in ataxia-telangiectasia fibroblasts.
abstract: Chromosomal instability with a high frequency of telomere fusion is characteristic of ataxia-telangiectasia cells both in vivo and in vitro. We have measured telomere length and found it to be consistently reduced in both diploid and SV40-transformed cells A-T fibroblasts, relative to control cells. We examined a few possible mechanisms which might account for telomeric length reduction, including telomerase activity in transformed cells and endogenous nuclease activities, but found no differences between A-T and control cells in these parameters.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock 72205, USA.
authors.forename: S J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Xia
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Shammas
authors.forename: R J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Shmookler Reis
mesh_terms: D001260:Ataxia Telangiectasia / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology*; D001483:Base Sequence; D002460:Cell Line; D002461:Cell Line, Transformed; D004247:DNA / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D004171:Diploidy; D005260:Female; D005347:Fibroblasts; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015345:Oligonucleotide Probes; D013539:Simian virus 40; D019098:Telomerase / Q000378:metabolism; D016615:Telomere / Q000473:pathology / Q000648:ultrastructure*
chemical_list: D015345:Oligonucleotide Probes; D004247:DNA; D019098:Telomerase