Human Long Telomeres and Epigenetic Marks

Abstract

We have read with interest the article “Telomere length regulates TERRA levels through increased trimethylation of telomeric H3K9 and HP1α” by Arnoult and colleagues [1]. This study focuses on human telomeric chromatin structure using different techniques like Chromatin Immunoprecipitation (ChIP), cytolocalization or RT-qPCR. However, it has been performed without taking into consideration the presence of Interstitial Telomeric Sequences (ITSs) in the human genome. Some of the conclusions of the article are undoubtedly clear but there are others that might be explained in alternative ways, considering the existence of ITSs. Following, we mention some comments that arise from this interesting article.