The terminal DNA structure of mammalian chromosomes

In virtually all eukaryotic organisms, telomeric DNA is composed of a variable number of short direct repeats. While the primary sequence of telomeric repeats has been determined for a great variety of species, the actual physical DNA structure at the ends of a bona fide metazoan chromosome with a centromere is unknown. It is shown here that an overhang of the strand forming the 3' ends of the chromosomes, the G-rich strand, is found at mammalian chromosome ends. Moreover, on at least some telomeres, the overhangs are greater than or equal to 45 bases long. Such surprisingly long overhangs were present on chromosomes derived from fully transformed tissue culture cells and normal G(0)-arrested peripheral leukocytes. Thus, irrespective of whether the cells were actively dividing or arrested, a very similar terminal DNA arrangement was found. These data suggest that the ends of mammalian and possibly all vertebrate chromosomes consist of an overhang of the G-rich strand and that these overhangs may be considerably larger than previously anticipated.