DNA methylation mediated up-regulation of TERRA non-coding RNA is coincident with elongated telomeres in the human placenta

B Novakovic; CE Napier; R Vryer; E Dimitriadis; U Manuelpillai; A Sharkey; JM Craig; RR Reddel; R Saffery

Journal article

DNA methylation mediated up-regulation of TERRA non-coding RNA is coincident with elongated telomeres in the human placenta

B Novakovic, CE Napier, R Vryer, E Dimitriadis, U Manuelpillai, A Sharkey, JM Craig, RR Reddel, R Saffery

Molecular Human Reproduction | OXFORD UNIV PRESS | Published : 2016

DOI: 10.1093/molehr/gaw053

Abstract

STUDY QUESTION: What factors regulate elongated telomere length in the human placenta? SUMMARY ANSWER: Hypomethylation of TERRA promoters in the human placenta is associated with high TERRA expression, however, no clear mechanistic link between these phenomena and elongated telomere length in the human placenta was found. WHAT IS KNOWN ALREADY: Human placenta tissue and trophoblasts show longer telomere lengths compared to gestational agematched somatic cells. However, telomerase (hTERT) expression and activity in the placenta is low, suggesting a role for an alternative lengthening of telomeres (ALT). While ALT is observed in 10-15% of human cancers and in some mouse stem cells, ALT has nev..

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University of Melbourne Researchers

Boris Novakovic Author

Evdokia Dimitriadis, Eva Dimitriadis Author

Jeff Craig Author

Richard Saffery Author

Grants

Funding Acknowledgements

This study was supported by NHMRC early career fellowship (B.N.), NHMRC Senior Research Fellowship (R.S.) and the Victoria Government Infrastructure Grant.