When the caps fall off: Responses to telomere uncapping in yeast

Abstract

Telomeres protect the ends of linear chromosomes from activities that cause sequence losses or challenge chromosome integrity. Furthermore, these ends must be hidden from detection by the DNA damage recognition and response pathways. In particular, they must not fuse with each other. These fundamental and very first functions attributed to telomeres are also summarized with the term 'chromosome capping'. However, telomeres can become uncapped and the foremost cellular responses to such events aim to restore genome stability in the most conservative fashion possible. I will provide an outline of cellular responses to uncapping in budding yeast and briefly discuss the reverse, namely avoidance mechanisms that prevent telomere formation at inappropriate places. © 2010 Federation of European Biochemical Societies.