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Article
Identification of ATPases Pontin and Reptin as Telomerase Components Essential for Holoenzyme Assembly
Cell
  • Andrew S. Venteicher
  • Zhaojing Meng
  • Philip J. Mason
  • Timothy D. Veenstra, Cedarville University
  • Steven E. Artandi
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
3-21-2008
DOI
10.1016/j.cell.2008.01.019
PubMed ID
18358808
PubMed Central® ID
PMC2291539
Abstract

Telomerase is a multisubunit ribonucleoprotein (RNP) complex that adds telomere repeats to the ends of chromosomes. Three essential telomerase components have been identified thus far: the telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT), the telomerase RNA component (TERC), and the TERC-binding protein dyskerin. Few other proteins are known to be required for human telomerase function, limiting our understanding of both telomerase regulation and mechanisms of telomerase action. Here, we identify the ATPases pontin and reptin as telomerase components through affinity purification of TERT from human cells. Pontin interacts directly with both TERT and dyskerin, and the amount of TERT bound to pontin and reptin peaks in S phase, evidence for cell-cycle-dependent regulation of TERT. Depletion of pontin and reptin markedly impairs telomerase RNP accumulation, indicating an essential role in telomerase assembly. These findings reveal an unanticipated requirement for additional enzymes in telomerase biogenesis and suggest alternative approaches for inhibiting telomerase in cancer.

Keywords
  • Adenosine triphosphatases,
  • carrier proteins,
  • cell cycle,
  • proteins,
  • chromatography,
  • affinity,
  • DNA helicases,
  • holoenzymes,
  • humans,
  • models,
  • biological,
  • molecular,
  • nuclear proteins,
  • RNA,
  • telomerase,
  • telomere
Citation Information
Andrew S. Venteicher, Zhaojing Meng, Philip J. Mason, Timothy D. Veenstra, et al.. "Identification of ATPases Pontin and Reptin as Telomerase Components Essential for Holoenzyme Assembly" Cell Vol. 132 Iss. 6 (2008) p. 945 - 957 ISSN: 1097-4172
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/timothy-veenstra/178/