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TINT1, PTOP and PIP1). Two more proteins have been discovered, TIN2 (for
TRF interacting protein) and RAP1 (for repressor activator protein 1). The
complex formed by these six proteins is known as shelterin.
The telomeres of Drosophila chromosomes are different from those of most other
organisms. Telomeres in Drosophila consist of multiple copies of two different
transposable elements, Het-A and Tart, arranged in tandem repeats. Apparently, in
Drosophila, the loss of Telomeric sequences in course of replication is balanced by the
insertion of additional copies of Het-A and Tart elements into the telomere.
The cell must maintain its telomeres. Failure to do so leads to a wide assortment of serious
problems, ranging from chromosome fusion to programmed cell death. Eukaryotic
chromosomes lose DNA from their ends as a result of replication and require a special
enzyme called telomerase to replace the lost DNA. Most human somatic cells lack
telomerase and so cannot replace the telomere DNA lost during replication. Failure to
replace this DNA is probably responsible for the fact that somatic cells go through a finite
number of divisions when studied in tissue culture, a phenomenon that is directly related
to the ageing process. Germ cells have telomerase and so can divide indefinitely. Most
cancer cells also have telomerase.
Further away from the ends of chromosomes are telomere-associated sequences,
comprising from several thousand to hundreds of thousands of base pairs. They, too,
contain repeated sequences, but the repeats are longer, more varied and more complex
than those found in telomeric sequences.