Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33453166›Full record

ArticleMolecular cell2021

Alternative lengthening of telomeres is a self-perpetuating process in ALT-associated PML bodies.

Jia-Min Zhang, Marie-Michelle Genois, Jian Ouyang, Li Lan, Lee Zou

Open access · bronzeAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Molecular cell, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 75 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
75citing papers in PubMed
10.1field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

75 citing papers in PubMed, 111 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
  2. Kinetic Control of Condensate Function: How the Formation Dynamics of APBs Influence ALT Cancer Telomere Length Heterogeneity.BioEssays : news and reviews in molecular, cellular and developmental biology · 2026
    Review
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  7. Translational Geroscience Strategies for Delaying Multimorbidity.ACS pharmacology & translational science · 2026
    Review
  8. Article
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  11. Mechanisms and genomic implications of break-induced replication.Nature structural & molecular biology · 2025
    Review
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  16. Article
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15 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Jia-Min ZhangMassachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA 02129, USA.
Marie-Michelle GenoisMassachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA 02129, USA.
Jian OuyangMassachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA 02129, USA.
Li LanMassachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA 02129, USA; Department of Radiation Oncology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114, USA.
Lee ZouMassachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA 02129, USA; Department of Pathology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114, USA. Electronic address: zou.lee@mgh.harvard.edu.
Massachusetts General Hospital · USHarvard University · US

Funding

Mechanisms of replication fork protection and recoveryR01CA248526 · NCI · WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY · PI Alessandro Vindigni, Lee Zou · 2020 to 2026
$3.6M
Implications of the ATR Checkpoint Kinase in Radiation and Targeted TherapiesR01CA197779 · NCI · MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL · PI ZOU, LEE · 2015 to 2020
$2.4M
Transcription-Coupled Homologous Recombination upon DNA DamageR01GM118833 · NIGMS · UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AT PITTSBURGH · PI LAN, LI · 2016 to 2020
$1.6M
Impacts of APOBECs on DNA replication, ATR checkpoint, and cancer therapyR01CA218856 · NCI · MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL · PI ZOU, LEE · 2018 to 2021
$1.5M
Understanding and Targeting the R-Loop-Mediated DNA Damage Response at TelomeresR01CA282939 · NCI · DUKE UNIVERSITY · PI Li Lan · 2023 to 2026
$1.5M
NCI NIH HHS R01 CA197779NCI NIH HHS R01 CA218856NCI NIH HHS R01 CA248526NCI NIH HHS R01 CA282939NIGMS NIH HHS R01 GM118833
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Alternative lengthening of telomeres (ALT) is mediated by break-induced replication (BIR), but how BIR is regulated at telomeres is poorly understood. Here, we show that telomeric BIR is a self-perpetuating process. By tethering PML-IV to telomeres, we induced telomere clustering in ALT-associated PML bodies (APBs) and a POLD3-dependent ATR response at telomeres, showing that BIR generates replication stress. Ablation of BLM helicase activity in APBs abolishes telomere synthesis but causes multiple chromosome bridges between telomeres, revealing a function of BLM in processing inter-telomere BIR intermediates. Interestingly, the accumulation of BLM in APBs requires its own helicase activity and POLD3, suggesting that BIR triggers a feedforward loop to further recruit BLM. Enhancing BIR induces PIAS4-mediated TRF2 SUMOylation, and PIAS4 loss deprives APBs of repair proteins and compromises ALT telomere synthesis. Thus, a BLM-driven and PIAS4-mediated feedforward loop operates in APBs to perpetuate BIR, providing a critical mechanism to extend ALT telomeres.

Indexed as

Feedback, PhysiologicalTelomere HomeostasisCell LineCell Line, TumorDNA Polymerase IIIEpithelial CellsFanconi Anemia Complementation Group ProteinsFibroblastsGene Expression RegulationGene Knockdown TechniquesHumansIntranuclear Inclusion BodiesPoly-ADP-Ribose Binding ProteinsProtein Inhibitors of Activated STATRad52 DNA Repair and Recombination ProteinRecQ HelicasesBloom syndrome proteinBRIP1 protein, humanDNA Polymerase IIIFanconi Anemia Complementation Group ProteinsPIAS4 protein, humanPOLD3 protein, humanPoly-ADP-Ribose Binding ProteinsProtein Inhibitors of Activated STATRad52 DNA Repair and Recombination ProteinRAD52 protein, humanRecQ HelicasesRNA HelicasesRNA, Small InterferingTelomeric Repeat Binding Protein 2TERF2 protein, humanALTAPBBIRBLMphase separationPIAS4PMLreplication stressSUMOtelomere

Identifiers

PMID33453166
PMCPMC8245000
OpenAlexW3116748476

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceTDM
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.