title: Strand-specific postreplicative processing of mammalian telomeres.
abstract: Telomeres are specialized nucleoprotein structures that stabilize the ends of linear eukaryotic chromosomes. In mammalian cells, abrogation of telomeric repeat binding factor TRF2 or DNA-dependent protein kinase (DNA-PK) activity causes end-to-end chromosomal fusion, thus establishing an essential role for these proteins in telomere function. Here we show that TRF2-mediated end-capping occurs after telomere replication. The postreplicative requirement for TRF2 and DNA-PKcs, the catalytic subunit of DNA-PK, is confined to only half of the telomeres, namely, those that were produced by leading-strand DNA synthesis. These results demonstrate a crucial difference in postreplicative processing of telomeres that is linked to their mode of replication.
authors.affiliation: Bioscience Division, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM 87544, USA.
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Bailey
authors.forename: M N
authors.initials: MN
authors.lastname: Cornforth
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kurimasa
authors.forename: D J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: E H
authors.initials: EH
authors.lastname: Goodwin
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002455:Cell Division; D002460:Cell Line; D002842:Chromatids / Q000502:physiology / Q000648:ultrastructure; D002875:Chromosomes / Q000502:physiology / Q000648:ultrastructure; D004261:DNA Replication; D051747:DNA-Activated Protein Kinase; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D017403:In Situ Hybridization; D051379:Mice; D008938:Mitosis; D009154:Mutation; D009687:Nuclear Proteins; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases / Q000172:deficiency / Q000378:metabolism; D016615:Telomere / Q000378:metabolism*; D035341:Telomeric Repeat Binding Protein 2; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured
chemical_list: D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D009687:Nuclear Proteins; D035341:Telomeric Repeat Binding Protein 2; D051747:DNA-Activated Protein Kinase; C497263:PRKDC protein, human; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases