Claus M. Azzalin
Gulbenkian Institute for Molecular Medicine, Lisbon
“TERRA: RNA-mediated regulation of telomere structure and function”
Host: Klaus Holzmann
Programm
Telomeres are specialized nucleoprotein structures that protect the ends of linear eukaryotic chromosomes. By solving the end-replication and end-protection problems, telomeres ensure proper genome replication and stability. Telomere function relies on the
multiprotein complex shelterin and is further regulated by TERRA, a long non-coding RNA transcribed by RNA polymerase II from telomeres. TERRA interacts with telomeric DNA and several telomere-associated proteins and has been implicated in the regulation of telomere structure, replication, DNA repair and telomerase activity.
In my talk, I will discuss our work aimed at understanding how TERRA contributes to telomere homeostasis, with particular emphasis on TERRA interactions with shelterin in human cells and their functional consequences. I will also present studies in Chinese hamster cells, where abundant TERRA transcripts originate predominantly from interstitial telomeric sequences. Together, these findings illustrate the diverse and context-dependent functions of TERRA and provide new perspectives on how telomeric repeat-containing RNAs contribute to genome stability.