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A novel motif in telomerase reverse transcriptase regulates telomere repeat addition rate and processivity.

ABSTRACT: Telomerase is a specialized reverse transcriptase that adds telomeric DNA repeats onto chromosome termini. Here, we characterize a new telomerase-specific motif, called motif 3, in the catalytic domain of telomerase reverse transcriptase, that is crucial for telomerase function and evolutionally conserved between vertebrates and ciliates. Comprehensive mutagenesis of motif 3 identified mutations that remarkably increase the rate or alter the processivity of telomere repeat addition. Notably, the rate and processivity of repeat addition are affected independently by separate motif 3 mutations. The processive telomerase action relies upon a template translocation mechanism whereby the RNA template and the telomeric DNA strand separate and realign between each repeat synthesis. By analyzing the mutant telomerases reconstituted in vitro and in cells, we show that the hyperactive mutants exhibit higher repeat addition rates and faster enzyme turnovers, suggesting higher rates of strand-separation during template translocation. In addition, the strong correlation between the processivity of the motif 3 mutants and their ability to use an 8 nt DNA primer, suggests that motif 3 facilitates realignment between the telomeric DNA and the template RNA following strand-separation. These findings support motif 3 as a key determinant for telomerase activity and processivity.

SUBMITTER: Xie M

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2847249 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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A novel motif in telomerase reverse transcriptase regulates telomere repeat addition rate and processivity.

Xie Mingyi M Podlevsky Joshua D JD Qi Xiaodong X Bley Christopher J CJ Chen Julian J-L JJ

Nucleic acids research 20091230 6

Telomerase is a specialized reverse transcriptase that adds telomeric DNA repeats onto chromosome termini. Here, we characterize a new telomerase-specific motif, called motif 3, in the catalytic domain of telomerase reverse transcriptase, that is crucial for telomerase function and evolutionally conserved between vertebrates and ciliates. Comprehensive mutagenesis of motif 3 identified mutations that remarkably increase the rate or alter the processivity of telomere repeat addition. Notably, the ...[more]

PMID: 20044353

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Project description:The Hedgehog (HH) signaling pathway is critical for normal embryonic development, tissue patterning and cell differentiation. Aberrant HH signaling is involved in multiple human cancers. HH signaling involves a multi-protein cascade activating the GLI proteins that transcriptionally regulate HH target genes. We have previously reported that HH signaling is essential for human colon cancer cell survival and inhibition of this signal induces DNA damage and extensive cell death. Here we report that the HH/GLI axis regulates human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT), which determines the replication potential of cancer cells. Suppression of GLI1/GLI2 functions by a C-terminus truncated GLI3 repressor mutant (GLI3R), or by GANT61, a pharmacological inhibitor of GLI1/GLI2, reduced hTERT protein expression in human colon cancer, prostate cancer and Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) cell lines. Expression of an N-terminus deleted constitutively active mutant of GLI2 (GLI2?N) increased hTERT mRNA and protein expression and hTERT promoter driven luciferase activity in human colon cancer cells while GANT61 inhibited hTERT mRNA expression and hTERT promoter driven luciferase activity. Chromatin immunoprecipitation with GLI1 or GLI2 antibodies precipitated fragments of the hTERT promoter in human colon cancer cells, which was reduced upon exposure to GANT61. In contrast, expression of GLI1 or GLI2?N in non-malignant 293T cells failed to alter the levels of hTERT mRNA and protein, or hTERT promoter driven luciferase activity. Further, expression of GLI2?N increased the telomerase enzyme activity, which was reduced by GANT61 administration in human colon cancer, prostate cancer, and GBM cells. These results identify hTERT as a direct target of the HH signaling pathway, and reveal a previously unknown role of the HH/GLI axis in regulating the replication potential of cancer cells. These findings are of significance in understanding the important regulatory mechanisms that determine the functions of HH/GLI signaling in cancer cells.

Dataset Information

A novel motif in telomerase reverse transcriptase regulates telomere repeat addition rate and processivity.

Publications

A novel motif in telomerase reverse transcriptase regulates telomere repeat addition rate and processivity.

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