title: The involvement of the Mre11/Rad50/Nbs1 complex in the generation of G-overhangs at human telomeres.
abstract: A central function of telomeres is to prevent chromosome ends from being recognized as DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs). Several proteins involved in processing DSBs associate with telomeres, but the roles of these factors at telomeres are largely unknown. To investigate whether the Mre11/Rad50/Nbs1 (MRN) complex is involved in the generation of proper 3' G-overhangs at human telomere ends, we used RNA interference to decrease expression of MRN and analysed their effects. Reduction of MRN resulted in a transient shortening of G-overhang length in telomerase-positive cells. The terminal nucleotides of both C- and G-rich strands remain unaltered in Mre11-diminished cells, indicating that MRN is not responsible for specifying the final end-processing event. The reduction in overhang length was not seen in telomerase-negative cells, but was observed after the expression of exogenous telomerase, which suggested that the MRN complex might be involved in the recruitment or action of telomerase.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell Biology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, 5323 Harry Hines Blvd, Dallas, Texas 75390-9039, USA.
authors.forename: Weihang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Chai
authors.forename: Agnel J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Sfeir
authors.forename: Hirotoshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hoshiyama
authors.forename: Jerry W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Shay
authors.forename: Woodring E
authors.initials: WE
authors.lastname: Wright
mesh_terms: D017766:Acid Anhydride Hydrolases; D001483:Base Sequence; D018797:Cell Cycle Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D004260:DNA Repair; D045643:DNA Repair Enzymes / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D006367:HeLa Cells; D006801:Humans; D000076228:MRE11 Homologue Protein; D009687:Nuclear Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D034622:RNA Interference; D034741:RNA, Small Interfering / Q000378:metabolism; D016615:Telomere / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D018797:Cell Cycle Proteins; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; C121766:MRE11 protein, human; C112156:NBN protein, human; D009687:Nuclear Proteins; D034741:RNA, Small Interfering; D000076228:MRE11 Homologue Protein; D017766:Acid Anhydride Hydrolases; C112158:RAD50 protein, human; D045643:DNA Repair Enzymes