Mutagen-induced telomere instability in human cells

ALEJANDRO D. BOLZAN

MUTATION RESEARCH. GENETIC TOXICOLOGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL MUTAGENESIS

ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV

Lugar: Amsterdam; Año: 2021 vol. 868- p. 1 - 9

1383-5718

Telomere instability is one of the main sources of genomic instability and may result from chromosome end loss (due to chromosome breakage at one or both ends) or, more frequently, telomere dysfunction. Dysfunctional telomeres arise when they lose their end-capping function or become critically short, which causes chromosomal termini to behave like a DNA double-strand break. Telomere instability may occur at the chromosomal or at the molecular level, giving rise, respectively, to telomere-related chromosomal aberrations or the loss or modification of any of the components of the telomere (telomere DNA, telomere-associated proteins or telomere RNA). Since telomeres play a fundamental role in maintaining genomic stability, the study of telomere instability in cells exposed to mutagens is of great importance to understand the telomere-driven genomic instability present in those cells. In the present review, we will focus on the current knowledge about telomere instability induced by physical, chemical, and biological mutagens in human cells.