The telomerase inhibitor telomestatin induces telomere shortening and cell death in Arabidopsis.
The cellular response to telomere dysfunction in plants was investigated with the use of telomestatin, an inhibitor of human telomerase activity. Telomestatin bound to plant telomeric repeat sequence, and inhibited telomerase activity in suspension-cultured cells of Arabidopsis thaliana and Oryza sativa (rice) in a dose-dependent manner. The inhibitor did not affect transcript level of the TERT gene, which encodes the catalytic subunit of telomerase, in the plant cells. Inhibition of telomerase activity by telomestatin resulted in rapid shortening of telomeres and the induction of cell death by an apoptosis-like mechanism in Arabidopsis cells. These results suggest that telomerase contributes to the survival of proliferating plant cells by maintaining telomere length, and that telomere erosion triggers cell death.
Institute of Molecular and Cellular Biosciences, University of Tokyo, Tokyo 113-0032, Japan.
Lili
L
Zhang
Katsunori
K
Tamura
Kazuo
K
Shin-ya
Hideo
H
Takahashi
D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000166:cytology* / Q000187:drug effects / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics; D016923:Cell Death / Q000187:drug effects; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D012275:Oryza / Q000201:enzymology; D010080:Oxazoles / Q000494:pharmacology*; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D019098:Telomerase / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors* / Q000378:metabolism; D016615:Telomere / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*
D010080:Oxazoles; D012333:RNA, Messenger; C431888:telomestatin; D019098:Telomerase