Structural and functional insights into CST tethering in Tetrahymena thermophila telomerase

Telomerase is crucial for telomere maintenance and genome integrity. The most salient feature of Tetrahymena telomerase is that its CST subcomplex (p75-p45-p19) is tethered to the telomerase catalytic core by interacting with the hub p50. Although the cryoelectron microscopy (cryo-EM) structures of Tetrahymena telomerase have recently been reported, the mechanisms of how and why p50 bridges the CST subcomplex to the telomerase catalytic core remain unclear. Here, we present the nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) structure of the p75_OB1-p50_PBM complex. Loss of the interaction between p75 and p50 detaches the CST subcomplex from the telomerase catalytic core in Tetrahymena. The tethering of the CST subcomplex to telomerase is required for telomere homeostasis. However, the detached CST subcomplex is still capable of facilitating the telomeric complementary-strand (C-strand) fill in similar to the non-tethered CST complexes in other organisms. These results expand our understanding of telomere synthesis in Tetrahymena.