Genome Integrity, Telomeres, Double Strand Break Repair

Telomeres are the natural ends of eukaryotic chromosomes maintained by the enzyme telomerase. Telomeres are evolutionarily conserved from unicellular organisms to humans and important for chromosome integrity. Most human cells express very little telomerase and due to the resultant telomerase insufficiency our telomeres become shorter with age. On one hand, the developmentally programmed telomerase insufficiency protects us from cancer but on the other – the short telomeres at the advanced age have been linked to impaired tissue homeostasis, wound healing and immune response. Mutations in human telomerase genes result in accelerated telomere shortening, developmental syndromes and cancer predisposition. Therefore, studying how cells deal with telomerase insufficiency and critically short telomeres is important for our understanding of human disease and ageing.