If chromosomes get fused at telomere after shelthrin dysfunction, will this condition show increased telomere length in qPCR method?
I am assuming that all other things are equal (post fusion, there are the correct number of chromosomes and that your single copy gene isn't affected by your fusion). That said, I would expect your T value by qPCR to be increased following fusion at the telomere.
I, personally, am not a big fan of the qPCR method of teloemre determination for different cancers (too many variables that would make comparisons meaningless, your fusion, for instance).
That depends on the cause of shelterin disfunction. If the shelterin complex disruption is driven by the loss of function of PML and telomerase still silenced (for example in PML/RARalpha promyelocytic leukemia blasts) then the telomeres are for sure shortened instead of increased in length.
Anyway I guess and this is only a personal opinion, you'll have a pool of telomeres with a different length and I think is better to run a classic PCR on a high percentage agarose gel to check eventually differences in molecular weight of the products.
Fused chromosomes can but do not have to show an increase in telomere length. All depends on the mechanisms of the fusion and the role the telomere and shelterin complex play in it. If for example there is a complete loss of telomere sequence in a chromosome, then there will not be an increase in telomere length when this chromosome fuses with another one. There are, however, conditions when the telomere length increases when chromosomes fuse; if both chromosomes involved in the fusion have not lost telomere sequences but became uncapped, then their fusion will lead to elongated telomeres at the fusion site.
@Sabin Mai: We are using POT1 and TRF2 KD to induce telomere dysfunction. Does this will induce elongation of telomere length? Since, we are and others also observed fused telomeres.
Are you using inducible disruption of POT1 and TRF2 ? If so, I propose to use Q-FISH to check at various time points after induction of shelterin dysfunction. Under inducible conditions, I expect you will find increased telomeric signals at the fusions sites.
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