Laboratoire de Biologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire des Eucaryotes
Laboratory of Molecular and Cellular Biology of Eukaryotes
Telomeres, the natural ends of chromosomes, resemble double-strand breaks (DSBs) and require protection by the shelterin complex to prevent aberrant activation of the DNA damage response (DDR) in somatic cells.
Telomere maintenance is a universal hallmark of cancers to sustain the unlimited proliferative potential. In ~85% of cancers, telomere shortening is mitigated by reactivated telomerase expression while the other ~15% use a recombination-based mechanism, termed Alternative Lengthening of Telomeres (ALT).