Publications by authors named "Terren R Chang"
Telomeres are essential chromosome end capping structures that safeguard the genome from dangerous DNA processing events. DNA strand invasion occurs during vital transactions at telomeres, including telomere length maintenance by the alternative lengthening of telomeres (ALT) pathway. During telomeric strand invasion, a single-stranded guanine-rich (G-rich) DNA invades at a complementary duplex telomere repeat sequence, forming a displacement loop (D-loop) in which the displaced DNA consists of the same G-rich sequence as the invading single-stranded DNA.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTelomere DNA G-quadruplex folding within actively extending human telomerase.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A
May 2019
Article Synopsis
- Telomerase maintains telomere length by reverse transcribing G-rich DNA sequences, which can form G-quadruplex (GQ) structures that complicate DNA replication.
- Experiments revealed that the folding of GQ structures during telomerase activity affects both the speed and efficiency of the enzyme's function, particularly when influenced by different ions like potassium (K) and lithium (Li).
- The study employed single-molecule techniques and kinetic modeling to demonstrate that the structural dynamics of telomere DNA significantly impact telomerase activity, suggesting that GQ folding plays a crucial role in the enzyme's catalysis.