title: DNA repair at telomeres: keeping the ends intact.
abstract: The molecular era of telomere biology began with the discovery that telomeres usually consist of G-rich simple repeats and end with 3' single-stranded tails. Enormous progress has been made in identifying the mechanisms that maintain and replenish telomeric DNA and the proteins that protect them from degradation, fusions, and checkpoint activation. Although telomeres in different organisms (or even in the same organism under different conditions) are maintained by different mechanisms, the disparate processes have the common goals of repairing defects caused by semiconservative replication through G-rich DNA, countering the shortening caused by incomplete replication, and postreplication regeneration of G tails. In addition, standard DNA repair mechanisms must be suppressed or modified at telomeres to prevent their being recognized and processed as DNA double-strand breaks. Here, we discuss the players and processes that maintain and regenerate telomere structure.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 08544, USA.
authors.forename: Christopher J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Webb
authors.forename: Yun
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Virginia A
authors.initials: VA
authors.lastname: Zakian
mesh_terms: D004265:DNA Helicases / Q000378:metabolism*; D004260:DNA Repair / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D004261:DNA Replication / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008954:Models, Biological; D018626:Retroelements / Q000235:genetics; D016615:Telomere / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D059505:Telomere Homeostasis / Q000502:physiology*; D034501:Telomere-Binding Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D015003:Yeasts
chemical_list: D018626:Retroelements; D034501:Telomere-Binding Proteins; D004265:DNA Helicases