Telomere length-dependent transcription and epigenetic modifications in promoters remote from telomere ends.

Mukherjee AK., Sharma S., Sengupta S., Saha D., Kumar P., Hussain T., Srivastava V., Roy SD., Shay JW., Chowdhury S.

Telomere-binding proteins constituting the shelterin complex have been studied primarily for telomeric functions. However, mounting evidence shows non-telomeric binding and gene regulation by shelterin factors. This raises a key question-do telomeres impact binding of shelterin proteins at distal non-telomeric sites? Here we show that binding of the telomere-repeat-binding-factor-2 (TRF2) at promoters ~60 Mb from telomeres depends on telomere length in human cells. Promoter TRF2 occupancy was depleted in cells with elongated telomeres resulting in altered TRF2-mediated transcription of distal genes. In addition, histone modifications-activation (H3K4me1 and H3K4me3) as well as silencing marks (H3K27me3)-at distal promoters were telomere length-dependent. These demonstrate that transcription, and the epigenetic state, of telomere-distal promoters can be influenced by telomere length. Molecular links between telomeres and the extra-telomeric genome, emerging from findings here, might have important implications in telomere-related physiology, particularly ageing and cancer.

DOI

10.1371/journal.pgen.1007782

Type

Journal article

Publication Date

2018-11-01T00:00:00+00:00

Volume

14

Keywords

Cell Line, Cyclin-Dependent Kinase Inhibitor p21, Epigenesis, Genetic, Gene Expression, Genome, Human, Histone Code, Humans, Promoter Regions, Genetic, Protein Binding, Shelterin Complex, Telomere, Telomere Homeostasis, Telomere-Binding Proteins, Telomeric Repeat Binding Protein 2, Transcription, Genetic

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