染色质免疫沉淀技术（ChIP）在基因转录调控中的作用

目的研究体细胞水平蛋白（转录因子）与DNA（靶基因启动子区）的相互作用.方法用甲醛固定活细胞,在生理状态下,结合的蛋白质-DNA复合物呈交联状态,超声将DNA打断成不同大小的片段,用目的蛋白质特异性抗体免疫沉淀该蛋白质-DNA复合物,复合物65℃解交联,并分离纯化DNA,然后进行PCR扩增.结果PCR扩增出阳性条带.结...     

Protection of telomeres through independent control of ATM and ATR by TRF2 and POT1

When telomeres are rendered dysfunctional through replicative attrition of the telomeric DNA or by inhibition of shelterin, cells show the hallmarks of ataxia telangiectasia mutated (ATM) kinase signalling. In addition, dysfunctional telomeres might induce an ATM-independent pathway, such as ataxia telangiectasia and Rad3-related (ATR) kinase signalling, as indicated by the phosphorylation of the ATR target CHK1 in senescent cells and the response of ATM-deficient cells to telomere dysfunction. However, because telomere attrition is accompanied by secondary DNA damage, it has remained unclear whether there is an ATM-independent pathway for the detection of damaged telomeres. Here we show that damaged mammalian telomeres can activate both ATM and ATR and address the mechanism by which the shelterin complex represses these two important DNA damage signalling pathways. We analysed the telomere damage response on depletion of either or both of the shelterin proteins telomeric repeat binding factor 2 (TRF2) and protection of telomeres 1 (POT1) from cells lacking ATM and/or ATR kinase signalling. The data indicate that TRF2 and POT1 act independently to repress these two DNA damage response pathways. TRF2 represses ATM, whereas POT1 prevents activation of ATR. Unexpectedly, we found that either ATM or ATR signalling is required for efficient non-homologous end-joining of dysfunctional telomeres. The results reveal how mammalian telomeres use multiple mechanisms to avoid DNA damage surveillance and provide an explanation for the induction of replicative senescence and genome instability by shortened telomeres.