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Alternative Lengthening of Telomere and DNA Repair
Zhang Yongjin, Li Haili, Li Cui, Shao Chihao, Luo Ying*
Lab of Molecular Genetics of Aging and Tumor, Faculty of Medicine, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming 650224, China
Abstract: The maintenance of telomere length and structure is highly related to the progress of senescence and tumorigenesis. Activation of a telomere maintenance mechanism (TMM) is of crucial importance for genome stability and the establishment of cellular immortality. 85%-90% of the tumor cells reactivate telomerase to maintain telomere length， while 10%-15% of the tumor cells utilize homologous recombination or other mechanisms to main telomere length in the case of telomerase deficiency. These mechanisms are referred to as alternative lengthening of telomere (ALT). ALT telomere DNA is synthesized by extrachromosomal free telomeric repeat DNA. Which implicated that DNA repair pathways engaged in ALT telomere maintenance might facilitate the understanding of the crosstalk between senescence and tumorigenesis. From the perspective of ALT telomere DNA， we discuss how DNA repair pathways converage in ALT mechanism and the proteins involved in maintaining the length and functional integrity of telomere in ALT cancers.
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