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Updated: May 8, 2026

Analyzing Telomeric Protein-DNA Interactions Using Single-Molecule Magnetic Tweezers
Published on: August 30, 2024
Acacetin and chrysin, two polyphenolic compounds, alleviate telomeric position effect in human cells
Amina Boussouar1, Caroline Barette, Robert Nadon
1Laboratoire de Biologie Moléculaire de la Cellule, CNRS UMR5239, Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon, UCBL1, IFR128, 46 allée d'Italie, Lyon Cedex 07, France.
Abstract:
We took advantage of the ability of human telomeres to silence neighboring genes (telomere position effect or TPE) to design a high-throughput screening assay for drugs altering telomeres. We identified, for the first time, that two dietary flavones, acacetin and chrysin, are able to specifically alleviate TPE in human cells. We further investigated their influence on telomere integrity and showed that both drugs drastically deprotect telomeres against DNA damage response. However, telomere deprotection triggered by shelterin dysfunction does not affect TPE, indicating that acacetin and chrysin target several functions of telomeres. These results show that TPE-based screening assays represent valuable methods to discover new compounds targeting telomeres.Molecular Therapy-Nucleic Acids (2013) 2, e116; doi:10.1038/mtna.2013.42; published online 20 August 2013.
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