[Mammalian proteins that associate with telomeres]

Telomeres are the DNA-protein complexes found at the ends of linear chromosomes. The structure is believed to be important for chromosome stability and cell integrity, and thereby for cell senescence and immortality. Telomeric DNA consists of tandemly repeated sequences which are observed from human to yeast. For example, human and Saccharomyces telomeres have T2AG3 and TG1-3 repeats, respectively. Recently, various protein factors including replication factor C (RFC) have been found as telomere repeat sequence binding-proteins. Characterization of these proteins and their interactions with telomeres may provide a new insight into not only telomere functions but also aging, immortality and apoptosis of the cells.