Telomerase abrogates aneuploidy-induced telomere replication stress, senescence and cell depletion

• Jitendra K Meena ^[3] ; Aurora Cerutti ^[1] ; Christine Beichler ^[2] ; Yohei Morita ^[3] ; Christopher Bruhn ^[3] ; Mukesh Kumar ^[4] ; Johann M Kraus ^[5] ; Michael R Speicher ^[2] ; Zhao-Qi Wang ^[3] ; Hans A Kestler ^[6] ; Fabrizio d’Adda di Fagagna ^[1] ; Cagatay Günes ^[3] ; Karl Lenhard Rudolph ^[3]
  1. [1] FIRC Institute of Molecular Oncology

     FIRC Institute of Molecular Oncology

     Milán, Italia

     
  2. [2] Medical University of Graz

     Medical University of Graz

     Graz, Austria

     
  3. [3] 1 Leibniz Institute of Age Research, Fritz Lipmann Institute e.V. Jena, Germany
  4. [4] 4 Institute of Experimental Cancer Research, University of Ulm Ulm, Germany
  5. [5] 5 Medical Systems Biology Unit, Ulm University Ulm, Germany
  6. [6] 1 Leibniz Institute of Age Research, Fritz Lipmann Institute e.V. Jena, Germany; 5 Medical Systems Biology Unit, Ulm University Ulm, Germany

  Mostrar afiliaciones +
• Localización: EMBO journal: European Molecular Biology Organization, ISSN 0261-4189, Vol. 34, Nº. 10, 2015, págs. 1371-1384
• Idioma: inglés
• Enlaces
  • Texto completo
• Resumen

  • The causal role of aneuploidy in cancer initiation remains under debate since mutations of euploidy-controlling genes reduce cell fitness but aneuploidy strongly associates with human cancers. Telomerase activation allows immortal growth by stabilizing telomere length, but its role in aneuploidy survival has not been characterized. Here, we analyze the response of primary human cells and murine hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) to aneuploidy induction and the role of telomeres and the telomerase in this process. The study shows that aneuploidy induces replication stress at telomeres leading to telomeric DNA damage and p53 activation. This results in p53/Rb-dependent, premature senescence of human fibroblast, and in the depletion of hematopoietic cells in telomerase-deficient mice. Endogenous telomerase expression in HSCs and enforced expression of telomerase in human fibroblasts are sufficient to abrogate aneuploidy-induced replication stress at telomeres and the consequent induction of premature senescence and hematopoietic cell depletion. Together, these results identify telomerase as an aneuploidy survival factor in mammalian cells based on its capacity to alleviate telomere replication stress in response to aneuploidy induction.