Chavez Alejandro, Tsou Amy M, Johnson F Brad
Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
Biochim Biophys Acta. 2009 Apr;1792(4):329-40. doi: 10.1016/j.bbadis.2009.02.008. Epub 2009 Feb 23.
Telomeres play critical roles in protecting genome stability, and their dysfunction contributes to cancer and age-related degenerative diseases. The precise architecture of telomeres, including their single-stranded 3' overhangs, bound proteins, and ability to form unusual secondary structures such as t-loops, is central to their function and thus requires careful processing by diverse factors. Furthermore, telomeres provide unique challenges to the DNA replication and recombination machinery, and are particularly suited for extension by the telomerase reverse transcriptase. Helicases use the energy from NTP hydrolysis to track along DNA and disrupt base pairing. Here we review current findings concerning how helicases modulate several aspects of telomere form and function.
端粒在保护基因组稳定性方面发挥着关键作用,其功能障碍会导致癌症和与年龄相关的退行性疾病。端粒的精确结构,包括其单链3'端突出、结合蛋白以及形成诸如t环等异常二级结构的能力,对于其功能至关重要,因此需要多种因子进行精细加工。此外,端粒给DNA复制和重组机制带来了独特的挑战,并且特别适合由端粒酶逆转录酶进行延伸。解旋酶利用NTP水解产生的能量沿着DNA追踪并破坏碱基配对。在这里,我们综述了关于解旋酶如何调节端粒形态和功能多个方面的当前研究结果。