A mechanism for the extension and unfolding of parallel G-quadruplexes by human telomerase at single-molecule resolution
- University of Wollongong, Australia
- Children's Medical Research Institute, Australia
- McGill University, Canada
- RMIT University, Australia
- Srinakharinwirot University, Thailand
- Kyoto Institute of Technology, Japan
- PSL Research University, France
- Instituto de Química Física 'Rocasolano', Spain
Abstract
Telomeric G-quadruplexes (G4) were long believed to form a protective structure at telomeres, preventing their extension by the ribonucleoprotein telomerase. Contrary to this belief, we have previously demonstrated that parallel-stranded conformations of telomeric G4 can be extended by human and ciliate telomerase. However, a mechanistic understanding of the interaction of telomerase with structured DNA remained elusive. Here, we use single-molecule fluorescence resonance energy transfer (smFRET) microscopy and bulk-phase enzymology to propose a mechanism for the resolution and extension of parallel G4 by telomerase. Binding is initiated by the RNA template of telomerase interacting with the G-quadruplex; nucleotide addition then proceeds to the end of the RNA template. It is only through the large conformational change of translocation following synthesis that the G-quadruplex structure is completely unfolded to a linear product. Surprisingly, parallel G4 stabilization with either small molecule ligands or by chemical modification does not always inhibit G4 unfolding and extension by telomerase. These data reveal that telomerase is a parallel G-quadruplex resolvase.
Data availability
All data generated or analysed during this study are included in the manuscript and supporting files. Source data files have been provided for all summary graphs.
Article and author information
Author details
Antoine M van Oijen
Funding
Cancer Council NSW (RG 11-07,RG 16-10)
- Tracy M Bryan
Cancer Institute NSW
- Aaron Lavel Moye
Australian Research Council
- Antoine M van Oijen
Ernest and Piroska Major Foundation
- Scott Cohen
National Science and Engineering Council
- Masad J Damha
Centre of Excellence for Innovation in Chemistry (PERCH-CIC)
- Siritron Samosorn
Research Unit of Natural Products and Organic Synthesis for Drug Discovery (NPOS 405/2560)
- Siritron Samosorn
The funders had no role in study design, data collection and interpretation, or the decision to submit the work for publication.
Copyright
© 2020, Paudel et al.
This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License permitting unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited.
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A mechanism for the extension and unfolding of parallel G-quadruplexes by human telomerase at single-molecule resolution
eLife 9:e56428.
https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.56428
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