Overexpression of heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein (hnRNP) A2/B1, especially of B1 has been reported as a useful marker to detect cancers in early stage, although the biological reason is not clear. A2/B1 proteins were previously reported to bind telomeric DNA repeats. Alternative splicing of A2/B1 gene produces abundant A2, less abundant B1, and testis-specific minor isoforms B0a and B0b. In this study, B1 and B0b that have the N-terminal 12 amino acid insertion were suggested to have higher affinities to telomeric single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) than A2 and B0a. Kinetic analyses using purified B1 and B0b indicated that they interact dynamically with a single array of telomeric repeats. Furthermore, functional assays demonstrated that B1 and B0b bind with telomeric repeats in a tandem fashion and protect them from a nuclease and promote telomerase activity. A2/B1 proteins, especially B1 and B0b, may function as telomeric ssDNA-binding proteins in cancer and reproductive cells.
Copyright 2001 Academic Press.