De novo telomere addition at chromosome breaks: Dangerous Liaisons

Abstract

Telomerase counteracts the loss of terminal DNA sequences from chromosome ends; however, it may erroneously add telomeric repeats to DNA double-strand breaks. In this issue, Ouenzar et al. (2017. J. Cell Biol. https ://doi.org/10.1083/jcb.201610071) uncover cell cycle-dependent sequestration of the telomerase RNA in nucleoli, a process that excludes telomerase from DNA repair sites.