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ARTICLE | Translation in Brief

Satellite damage

How satellite RNAs could cause cancer by promoting mutations

July 31, 2018 9:15 PM UTC

Researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies have figured out how RNA transcribed from satellite DNA repeats could promote tumorigenesis by hindering DNA repair, highlighting a potential new target for cancer.

Satellite RNAs are a type of non-coding RNA transcribed from satellite DNA, tandem DNA repeats found in the middle or ends of chromosomes that are rarely transcribed and have unknown functions. Previous studies have linked satellite RNAs with cancer and in a 2011 Nature paper, the Salk team showed human breast tumor cells harboring breast cancer 1 early onset (BRCA1) mutations expressed high levels of satellite RNAs. But none of those studies determined whether or how satellite RNAs might promote cancer...