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Chromosome‐specific telomeric associations in Chinese hamster embryonic cells
Author(s) -
Slijepcevic Predrag,
Xiao Yun,
Natarajan Adayapalam T.
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
genes, chromosomes and cancer
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.754
H-Index - 119
eISSN - 1098-2264
pISSN - 1045-2257
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1098-2264(200005)28:1<98::aid-gcc12>3.0.co;2-u
Subject(s) - telomere , metaphase , biology , interphase , chinese hamster , embryonic stem cell , chromosome instability , chromosome , genetics , genome instability , cell cycle , microbiology and biotechnology , cell , gene , cell culture , dna damage , dna
Telomeric associations (TAs) represent an important cytogenetic marker of human tumor cells. It has been thought that the primary cause of TAs is telomere shortening. However, we report here a surprising aspect of telomere maintenance in primary Chinese hamster embryonic (CHE) cells: relatively high frequencies of TAs in spite of normal telomere length. These TAs are present in both interphase and metaphase cells, suggesting that metaphase TAs may be relics of interphase chromosome organization. In addition, some TAs observed here are chromosome‐specific and recurrent in at least three consecutive cell cycles in two different CHE cell strains. In spite of relatively high frequencies of TAs, none of the CHE strains show chromosome instability resulting from breakage‐fusion‐bridge cycles, as would be expected from tumor cell studies. It appears that TAs in CHE cells may be reversible events. These results are discussed in light of current understanding of telomere biology. Genes Chromosomes Cancer 28:98–105, 2000. © 2000 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.