Open AccessTelomere dynamics: the means to an end
Author(s) -
Matulić M.,
Sopta M.,
Rubelj I.
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
cell proliferation
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.647
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1365-2184
pISSN - 0960-7722
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2184.2007.00452.x
Subject(s) - telomere , biology , cell division , chromosome , genome , microbiology and biotechnology , senescence , dna , genetics , cell , genome instability , computational biology , gene , dna damage
. Telomeres are among the most important structures in eukaryotic cells. Creating the physical ends of linear chromosomes, they play a crucial role in maintaining genome stability, control of cell division, cell growth and senescence. In vertebrates, telomeres consist of G‐rich repetitive DNA sequences (TTAGGG)n and specific proteins, creating a specialized structure called the telosome that through mutual interactions with many other factors in the cell give rise to dynamic regulation of chromosome maintenance. In this review, we survey the structural and mechanistic aspects of telomere length regulation and how these processes lead to alterations in normal and immortal cell growth.