title: Homologous recombination-dependent repair of telomeric DSBs in proliferating human cells.
abstract: Telomeres prevent chromosome ends from being recognized as double-stranded breaks (DSBs). Meanwhile, G/C-rich repetitive telomeric DNA is susceptible to attack by DNA-damaging agents. How cells balance the need to protect DNA ends and the need to repair DNA lesions in telomeres is unknown. Here we show that telomeric DSBs are efficiently repaired in proliferating cells, but are irreparable in stress-induced and replicatively senescent cells. Using the CRISPR-Cas9 technique, we specifically induce DSBs at telomeric or subtelomeric regions. We find that DSB repair (DSBR) at subtelomeres occurs in an error-prone manner resulting in small deletions, suggestive of NHEJ. However, DSBR in telomeres involves 'telomere-clustering', 3'-protruding C-rich telomeric ssDNA, and HR between sister-chromatid or interchromosomal telomeres. DSBR in telomeres is suppressed by deletion or inhibition of Rad51. These findings reveal proliferation-dependent DSBR in telomeres and suggest that telomeric HR, which is normally constitutively suppressed, is activated in the context of DSBR.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Gene Engineering of the Ministry of Education, Department of Biochemistry, School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510006, China.|Collaborative Innovation Center of High Performance Computing, National University of Defense Technology, Changsha 410073, China.
authors.forename: Pingsu
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Mao
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Gene Engineering of the Ministry of Education, Department of Biochemistry, School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510006, China.|Collaborative Innovation Center of High Performance Computing, National University of Defense Technology, Changsha 410073, China.|Zhongshan Medical School, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510006, China.
authors.forename: Jingfan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Gene Engineering of the Ministry of Education, Department of Biochemistry, School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510006, China.
authors.forename: Zepeng
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Gene Engineering of the Ministry of Education, Department of Biochemistry, School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510006, China.
authors.forename: Hong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Gene Engineering of the Ministry of Education, Department of Biochemistry, School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510006, China.|Collaborative Innovation Center of High Performance Computing, National University of Defense Technology, Changsha 410073, China.
authors.forename: Haiying
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Medicine, Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou 510060, China.
authors.forename: Song
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Gene Engineering of the Ministry of Education, Department of Biochemistry, School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510006, China.
authors.forename: Yikang S
authors.initials: YS
authors.lastname: Rong
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Gene Engineering of the Ministry of Education, Department of Biochemistry, School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510006, China.|Collaborative Innovation Center of High Performance Computing, National University of Defense Technology, Changsha 410073, China.
authors.forename: Yong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhao
mesh_terms: D064113:CRISPR-Cas Systems; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D016922:Cellular Senescence; D059766:DNA End-Joining Repair; D005347:Fibroblasts / Q000378:metabolism; D057809:HEK293 Cells; D006367:HeLa Cells; D006801:Humans; D059767:Recombinational DNA Repair; D016615:Telomere / Q000378:metabolism*