Human TEN1 maintains telomere integrity and functions in genome-wide replication restart

TEN1 is a component of the mammalian CTC1-STN1-TEN1 complex. CTC1 and/or STN1 functions in telomere duplex replication, C-strand fill-in, and genome-wide restart of replication following fork stalling. Here we examine the role of human TEN1 and ask whether it also functions as a specialized replication factor. TEN1 depletion causes an increase in multitelomere fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) signals similar to that observed after CTC1 or STN1 depletion. However, TEN1 depletion also results in increased telomere loss. This loss is not accompanied by increased telomere deprotection, recombination, or T-circle release. Thus, it appears that both the multiple telomere signals and telomere loss stem from problems in telomere duplex replication. TEN1 depletion can also affect telomere length, but whether telomeres lengthen or shorten is cell line-dependent. Like CTC1 and STN1, TEN1 is needed for G-overhang processing. Depletion of TEN1 does not effect overhang elongation in mid-S phase, but it delays overhang shortening in late S/G2. These results indicate a role for TEN1 in C-strand fill-in but do not support a direct role in telomerase regulation. Finally, TEN1 depletion causes a decrease in genome-wide replication restart following fork stalling similar to that observed after STN1 depletion. However, anaphase bridge formation is more severe than with CTC1 or STN1 depletion. Our findings indicate that TEN1 likely functions in conjunction with CTC1 and STN1 at the telomere and elsewhere in the genome. They also raise the possibility that TEN1 has additional roles and indicate that TEN1/CTC1-STN1-TEN1 helps solve a wide range of challenges to the replication machinery.