Editor's Summary
2 July 2009
Telomerase link to Wnt signalling
The Wnt/
-catenin signalling pathway plays a central role in stem cell biology and has been implicated in tumorigenesis. Telomerase-catalysed addition of DNA repeats to chromosome ends is crucial for stem cell self-renewal and for progenitor cell survival and has also been implicated in tumorigenesis. Park et al. report an unanticipated link between these two pathways with prominent roles in tissue stem cells and cancer. The telomerase component TERT (telomerase reverse transcriptase) is shown act as a transcriptional modulator of the Wnt/-catenin signalling pathway. The chromatin remodelling protein BRG1, a modulator of Wnt signalling, is identified as a TERT-interacting protein.
News and Views: Cell biology: The not-so-odd couple
Actively dividing cells do so at a risk — with each division, chromosome ends tend to shorten. Pairing proteins that promote cell division with a chromosome-end repair factor is a smart way to solve this problem.
Sarah E. Millar
doi:10.1038/460044a
Article: Telomerase modulates Wnt signalling by association with target gene chromatin
Jae-Il Park, Andrew S. Venteicher, Ji Yeon Hong, Jinkuk Choi, Sohee Jun, Marina Shkreli, Woody Chang, Zhaojing Meng, Peggie Cheung, Hong Ji, Margaret McLaughlin, Timothy D. Veenstra, Roel Nusse, Pierre D. McCrea & Steven E. Artandi
doi:10.1038/nature08137
Abstract | Full Text | PDF (1,069K) | Supplementary information
