GSE26005
The human TTAGGG Repeat Factors 1 and 2 bind to a subset of interstitial telomeric sequences and satellite repeats
The study of the proteins that bind to telomeric DNA in mammals has provided a deep understanding of the mechanisms of chromosome-end protection. However, very little is known on the binding of these proteins to nontelomeric DNA sequences. The TTAGGG DNA repeat proteins 1 and 2 (TRF1 and TRF2) bind to mammalian telomeres as part of the shelterin complex and are essential for maintaining chromosome end stability. In this study, we combined chromatin immunoprecipitation with high-throughput sequencing to map at high sensitivity and resolution, the human chromosomal sites to which TRF1 and TRF2 bind. While most of the identified sequences correspond to telomeric regions, we showed that these two proteins also bind to extratelomeric sites. The vast majority of these extra-telomeric sites contains interstitial telomeric sequences (or ITSs). However we also identified non-ITS sites, which are also satellite DNA but the ones mainly constitutive of centromeric and pericentromeric regions. Interestingly, the TRF-binding sites are often located in the proximity of genes or within introns. We propose that, by binding to extratelomeric sequences, TRF1 and TRF2 couple the functional state of telomeres to the long-range organization of chromosomes and gene regulation networks. Overall design: ChIP-SEQ experiment of transformed human fibroblast BJ cells with 3 antibodies (1 monoclonal anti-TRF1, 1 monoclonal anti-TRF2, 1 polyclonal anti-TRF2) and a negative control (proteinG without antibody used as the ChIP background)