title: Life and Death of Yeast Telomerase RNA.
abstract: Telomerase reverse transcriptase elongates telomeres to overcome their natural attrition and allow unlimited cellular proliferation, a characteristic shared by stem cells and the majority of malignant cancerous cells. The telomerase holoenzyme comprises a core RNA molecule, a catalytic protein subunit, and other accessory proteins. Malfunction of certain telomerase components can cause serious genetic disorders including dyskeratosis congenita and aplastic anaemia. A hierarchy of tightly regulated steps constitutes the process of telomerase biogenesis, which, if interrupted or misregulated, can impede the production of a functional enzyme and severely affect telomere maintenance. Here, we take a closer look at the budding yeast telomerase RNA component, TLC1, in its long lifetime journey around the cell. We review the extensive knowledge on TLC1 transcription and processing. We focus on exciting recent studies on telomerase assembly, trafficking, and nuclear dynamics, which for the first time unveil striking similarities between the yeast and human telomerase ribonucleoproteins. Finally, we identify questions yet to be answered and new directions to be followed, which, in the future, might improve our knowledge of telomerase biology and trigger the development of new therapies against cancer and other telomerase-related diseases.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Université de Sherbrooke, Applied Cancer Research Pavillion, 3201 rue Jean-Mignault, Sherbrooke, Quebec, J1E 4K8, Canada. Electronic address: y.vasianovich@usherbrooke.ca.
authors.forename: Yulia
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Vasianovich
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Université de Sherbrooke, Applied Cancer Research Pavillion, 3201 rue Jean-Mignault, Sherbrooke, Quebec, J1E 4K8, Canada. Electronic address: raymund.wellinger@usherbrooke.ca.
authors.forename: Raymund J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Wellinger
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D012313:RNA / Q000235:genetics*; D012331:RNA, Fungal / Q000235:genetics*; D012441:Saccharomyces cerevisiae / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D029701:Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D019098:Telomerase / Q000235:genetics*; D016615:Telomere / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D012331:RNA, Fungal; D029701:Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins; C422952:telomerase RNA; D012313:RNA; D019098:Telomerase
keywords: telomerase RNA; telomerase biologenesis