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TERRA biogenesis, turnover and implications for function
Author(s) -
Feuerhahn Sascha,
Iglesias Nahid,
Panza Andrea,
Porro Antonio,
Lingner Joachim
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
febs letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.593
H-Index - 257
eISSN - 1873-3468
pISSN - 0014-5793
DOI - 10.1016/j.febslet.2010.07.032
Subject(s) - heterochromatin , telomere , subtelomere , nucleoplasm , biology , genetics , biogenesis , telomerase , transcription (linguistics) , chromosome , dna , gene , nucleolus , linguistics , philosophy , cytoplasm
Telomeres are heterochromatic structures at the ends of eukaryotic chromosomes. As other heterochromatin regions, telomeres are transcribed, from the subtelomeric region towards chromosome ends into the long non‐coding RNA TERRA. Telomere transcription is a widespread phenomenon as it has been observed in species belonging to several kingdoms of the eukaryotic domain. TERRA is part of telomeric heterochromatin in addition to being present in the nucleoplasm. Here, we review the current knowledge of TERRA structure, biogenesis and turnover. In addition, we discuss presumed roles of this RNA during replication of telomeric DNA, heterochromatin formation and the regulation of telomerase.