Title | Telomerase core components protect Candida telomeres from aberrant overhang accumulation. |
Publication Type | Journal Article |
Year of Publication | 2007 |
Authors | Hsu M, McEachern MJ, Dandjinou AT, Tzfati Y, Orr E, Blackburn EH, Lue NF |
Journal | Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A |
Volume | 104 |
Issue | 28 |
Pagination | 11682-7 |
Date Published | 2007 Jul 10 |
ISSN | 0027-8424 |
Keywords | Candida, DNA, Fungal, RNA, Telomerase, Telomere |
Abstract | Telomerase is a cellular reverse transcriptase that extends one strand (the G-strand) of the telomere terminal repeats. Aside from this role in telomere length maintenance, telomerase has been proposed to serve a protective function at chromosome ends, although this is not well understood mechanistically. Earlier analysis suggests that, in the pathogenic yeast Candida albicans, the catalytic reverse transcriptase subunit of telomerase (TERT/EST2) can protect telomeres against nucleolytic degradation. In this report we demonstrate that the RNA component (TER1) has a similar function; in addition to complete loss of telomerase activity and progressive telomere attrition, the ter1-DeltaDelta strains manifested a dramatic increase in the amount of G-strand overhangs, consistent with aberrant degradation of the complementary C-strand. We also demonstrate that a catalytically incompetent EST2 protein can suppress such overhang accumulation in the est2-DeltaDelta mutant to the same extent as the wild-type protein. Altogether, our data support the notion that the Candida telomerase core components mediate a protective function through a mechanism that is independent of its catalytic activity. |
DOI | 10.1073/pnas.0700327104 |
Alternate Journal | Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A |
PubMed ID | 17609387 |
PubMed Central ID | PMC1913905 |
Grant List | GM069507 / GM / NIGMS NIH HHS / United States GM 26259 / GM / NIGMS NIH HHS / United States DE11356 / DE / NIDCR NIH HHS / United States R01 GM069507 / GM / NIGMS NIH HHS / United States R01 GM026259 / GM / NIGMS NIH HHS / United States R37 GM026259 / GM / NIGMS NIH HHS / United States |
Submitted by jom4013 on December 3, 2020 - 4:17pm