Different requirements of functional telomeres in neural stem cells and terminally differentiated neurons.

ABSTRACT: Telomeres have been studied extensively in peripheral tissues, but their relevance in the nervous system remains poorly understood. Here, we examine the roles of telomeres at distinct stages of murine brain development by using lineage-specific genetic ablation of TRF2, an essential component of the shelterin complex that protects chromosome ends from the DNA damage response machinery. We found that functional telomeres are required for embryonic and adult neurogenesis, but their uncapping has surprisingly no detectable consequences on terminally differentiated neurons. Conditional knockout of TRF2 in post-mitotic immature neurons had virtually no detectable effect on circuit assembly, neuronal gene expression, and the behavior of adult animals despite triggering massive end-to-end chromos

SUBMITTER: Lobanova A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5411705 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature