When Telomerase Causes Telomere Loss

Galina Glousker; Joachim Lingner

doi:10.1016/j.devcel.2018.01.011

When Telomerase Causes Telomere Loss

Dev Cell. 2018 Feb 5;44(3):281-283. doi: 10.1016/j.devcel.2018.01.011. Epub 2018 Feb 5.

Authors

Galina Glousker¹, Joachim Lingner²

Affiliations

¹ Swiss Institute for Experimental Cancer Research (ISREC), School of Life Sciences, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland.
² Swiss Institute for Experimental Cancer Research (ISREC), School of Life Sciences, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland. Electronic address: joachim.lingner@epfl.ch.

PMID: 29408234
DOI: 10.1016/j.devcel.2018.01.011

Abstract

Telomerase counteracts telomere shortening, preventing cellular senescence. Telomerase deficiency causes telomere syndromes because of premature telomere exhaustion in highly proliferative cells. Paradoxically, in a recent issue of Cell, Margalef et al. (2018) demonstrate that telomerase causes telomere loss in cells lacking the RTEL1 helicase, which is defective in Hoyeraal-Hreidarsson syndrome (HHS).

Publication types

Comment

MeSH terms

Cellular Senescence
Dyskeratosis Congenita
Humans
Microcephaly
Mutation
Telomerase / genetics*
Telomere Shortening
Telomere*

Substances

Telomerase