The alternative lengthening of telomeres (ALT) pathway is a mechanism of maintaining telomere length and is activated in 10–15% of cancers. However, the mechanism of ALT activation is poorly understood. O'Sullivan and colleagues show that knockdown of both ASF1A and ASF1B (histone chaperones that are involved in histone management) in several human cell lines induced phenotypic markers of ALT pathway activity. After further analyses, the authors propose that the ALT pathway may be activated by defects in histone management.
References
O'Sullivan, R. J. et al. Rapid induction of alternative lengthening of telomeres by depletion of the histone chaperone ASF1. Nature Struct. Mol. Biol. 21, 167–174 (2014)
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Alderton, G. Histone mismanagement. Nat Rev Cancer 14, 155 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrc3696
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrc3696
