Closing the feedback loop: how cells 'count' telomere-bound proteins.

摘要

Telomere length homeostasis is thought to occur via a "protein-counting" mechanism whereby high numbers of telomere-bound proteins inhibit telomerase activity. In a recent issue of Molecular Cell, Hirano et al. (2009) delineate the molecular interactions that underlie the budding yeast protein-counting machinery.