Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, California 94720-3200, USA.
RNA. 2012 Oct;18(10):1747-59. doi: 10.1261/rna.034629.112. Epub 2012 Aug 8.
Telomerase adds simple-sequence repeats to the ends of linear chromosomes to counteract the loss of end sequence inherent in conventional DNA replication. Catalytic activity for repeat synthesis results from the cooperation of the telomerase reverse transcriptase protein (TERT) and the template-containing telomerase RNA (TER). TERs vary widely in sequence and structure but share a set of motifs required for TERT binding and catalytic activity. Species-specific TER motifs play essential roles in RNP biogenesis, stability, trafficking, and regulation. Remarkably, the biogenesis pathways that generate mature TER differ across eukaryotes. Furthermore, the cellular processes that direct the assembly of a biologically functional telomerase holoenzyme and its engagement with telomeres are evolutionarily varied and regulated. This review highlights the diversity of strategies for telomerase RNP biogenesis, RNP assembly, and telomere recruitment among ciliates, yeasts, and vertebrates and suggests common themes in these pathways and their regulation.
端粒酶将简单重复序列添加到线性染色体的末端,以抵消常规 DNA 复制中固有的末端序列丢失。重复合成的催化活性源自端粒酶逆转录酶蛋白 (TERT) 和包含模板的端粒酶 RNA (TER) 的合作。TER 在序列和结构上差异很大,但共享一组 TERT 结合和催化活性所必需的基序。物种特异性 TER 基序在 RNP 生物发生、稳定性、运输和调节中发挥重要作用。值得注意的是,生成成熟 TER 的生物发生途径在真核生物中有所不同。此外,指导生物功能端粒酶全酶组装及其与端粒结合的细胞过程在进化上是多样化和调节的。本综述强调了纤毛虫、酵母和脊椎动物中端粒酶 RNP 生物发生、RNP 组装和端粒募集的策略的多样性,并提出了这些途径及其调节中的共同主题。