Journal article
Telomere-end processing the terminal nucleotides of human chromosomes
Molecular cell, Vol.18(1), pp.131-138
04/01/2005
Handle:
https://hdl.handle.net/2376/108018
PMID: 15808515
Abstract
Mammalian telomeres end in single-stranded, G-rich 3' overhangs resulting from both the "end-replication problem" (the inability of DNA polymerase to replicate the very end of the telomeres) and postreplication processing. Telomeric G-rich overhangs are precisely defined in ciliates; the length and the terminal nucleotides are fixed. Human telomeres have very long overhangs that are heterogeneous in size (35-600 nt), indicating that their processing must differ in some respects from model organisms. We developed telomere-end ligation protocols that allowed us to identify the terminal nucleotides of both the C-rich and the G-rich telomere strands. Up to approximately 80% of the C-rich strands terminate in CCAATC-5', suggesting that after replication a nuclease with high specificity or constrained action acts on the C strand. In contrast, the G-terminal nucleotide was less precise than Tetrahymena and Euplotes but still had a bias that changed as a function of telomerase expression.
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Details
- Title
- Telomere-end processing the terminal nucleotides of human chromosomes
- Creators
- Agnel J Sfeir - Department of Cell Biology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, 5323 Harry Hines Boulevard, Dallas, Texas 75390, USAWeihang ChaiJerry W ShayWoodring E Wright
- Publication Details
- Molecular cell, Vol.18(1), pp.131-138
- Academic Unit
- UNKNOWN
- Publisher
- United States
- Grant note
- AG01228 / NIA NIH HHS
- Identifiers
- 99900547104001842
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Journal article