Fingering the ends: how to make new telomeres.
Telomerase-mediated healing of broken chromosomes gives rise to terminal deletions and is repressed in most organisms. In ciliated protozoa, however, chromosome fragmentation and de novo telomere addition are part of the developmental program. Work by in this issue of Cell indicates that in Euplotes crassus, this is mediated through switching between different telomerase reverse transcriptase isoforms.
Cristofari
Gaël
G
Swiss Institute for Experimental Cancer Research (ISREC), CH-1066 Epalinges, Switzerland.
Lingner
Joachim
J
D000818:Animals; D004249:DNA Damage / Q000235:genetics*; D004260:DNA Repair / Q000235:genetics*; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D016812:Euplotes / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics*; D017353:Gene Deletion; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation / Q000235:genetics; D023421:Models, Animal; D020033:Protein Isoforms / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D019098:Telomerase / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D016615:Telomere / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*
D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D020033:Protein Isoforms; D019098:Telomerase