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Semi-conservative DNA replication through telomeres requires Taz1

Nature volume 440, pages 824–828 (2006)Cite this article

Abstract

Telomere replication is achieved through the combined action of the conventional DNA replication machinery and the reverse transcriptase, telomerase. Telomere-binding proteins have crucial roles in controlling telomerase activity; however, little is known about their role in controlling semi-conservative replication, which synthesizes the bulk of telomeric DNA1. Telomere repeats in the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe are bound by Taz1, a regulator of diverse telomere functions2,3,4. It is generally assumed that telomere-binding proteins impede replication fork progression. Here we show that, on the contrary, Taz1 is crucial for efficient replication fork progression through the telomere. Using two-dimensional gel electrophoresis5, we find that loss of Taz1 leads to stalled replication forks at telomeres and internally placed telomere sequences, regardless of whether the telomeric G-rich strand is replicated by leading- or lagging-strand synthesis. In contrast, the Taz1-interacting protein Rap1 is dispensable for efficient telomeric fork progression. Upon loss of telomerase, taz1Δ telomeres are lost precipitously, suggesting that maintenance of taz1Δ telomere repeats cannot be sustained through semi-conservative replication. As the human telomere proteins TRF1 and TRF2 are Taz1 orthologues, we predict that one or both of the human TRFs may orchestrate fork passage through human telomeres. Stalled forks at dysfunctional human telomeres are likely to accelerate the genomic instability that drives tumorigenesis.

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Figure 1: Efficient semi-conservative replication through telomeres requires Taz1 but not Rap1.
Figure 2: Taz1 is required for efficient replication through internally placed telomere tracts.
Figure 3: Taz1 is required for replication through the telomere/subtelomere boundary.
Figure 4: Differences in the kinetics of telomere attrition and survival mechanism in taz1Δ versus rap1Δ cells after trt1 + deletion.

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Acknowledgements

We thank our laboratory members for discussions and support, and are particularly grateful to A. Hebden for sharing the internal telomere strain, J. Lingner, S. Marcand, Y. Mazor and F. Uhlmann for discussions, and B. Arcangioli, A. Kaykov and C. Heichinger for advice on 2D gel electrophoresis. This work was supported by Cancer Research UK.

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Author notes

  1. Kyle M. Miller

    Present address: Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Cancer Research Institute, University of California, San Francisco, California, 94115-0128, USA

  2. Kyle M. Miller and Ofer Rog: *These authors contributed equally to this work

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Telomere Biology Laboratory, Cancer Research UK, 44 Lincoln's Inn Fields, WC2A 3PX, London, UK

    Kyle M. Miller, Ofer Rog & Julia Promisel Cooper

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  1. Kyle M. Miller
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Correspondence to Julia Promisel Cooper.

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Miller, K., Rog, O. & Cooper, J. Semi-conservative DNA replication through telomeres requires Taz1. Nature 440, 824–828 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature04638

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