Melek M, Shippen D E
Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Texas A&M University, College Station 77843-2128, USA.
Bioessays. 1996 Apr;18(4):301-8. doi: 10.1002/bies.950180408.
Telomeres are protective caps for chromosome ends that are essential for genome stability. Broken chromosomes missing a telomere will not be maintained unless the chromosome is 'healed' with the formation of a new telomere. Chromosome healing can be a programmed event following developmentally regulated chromosome fragmentation, or it may occur spontaneously when a chromosome is accidentally broken. In this article we discuss the consequences of telomere loss and the possible mechanisms that the enzyme telomerase employs to form telomeres de novo on broken chromosome ends.
端粒是染色体末端的保护帽，对基因组稳定性至关重要。缺失端粒的断裂染色体无法维持，除非通过形成新的端粒来“修复”染色体。染色体修复可以是发育调控的染色体片段化后的程序性事件，也可能在染色体意外断裂时自发发生。在本文中，我们讨论了端粒丢失的后果以及端粒酶在断裂染色体末端从头形成端粒所采用的可能机制。
