Nijmegen Breakage Syndrome (NBS) is a Telomeropathy: Analysis of Telomere Length in NBS Homo- and Heterozygotes and Humanized Nbs Mice
Authors: Habib Raneem , Kim Ryong , Neitzel Heidemarie , Demuth Ilja , Chrzanowska Krystyna , Seemanova Eva , Faber Renaldo , Digweed Martin , Jäger Kathrin , Sperling Karl , Walter Michael 
Published: March 2019

The autosomal recessive genetic disorder Nijmegen breakage syndrome (NBS) is characterized by a defect in DNA double-strand break repair protein nibrin and chromosome instability associated with a high predisposition to cancer. Here we hypothesized that impaired nibrin/MRE11/RAD50 telomere maintenance complex may also affect telomere length and modulate the cancer phenotype.

Telomere length was studied in blood from 38 homozygous and 27 heterozygous individuals, in one homozygous fetus, and in sex NBS lymphoblastoid cell lines (all with the founder mutation c.657_661del5), and in three humanized Nbs mice, using qPCR, TRF and Q-FISH.

Telomere lengths were markedly but uniformly reduced to 20-40% of healthy controls. There was no correlation between telomere length and severity of clinical phenotype or age of death. By contrast, individual patients with very short telomeres displayed long survival times after cancer manifestation. Mildly accelerated telomere attrition was found in older NBS heterozygotes. In the NBS-fetus, the spinal cord, brain and heart had the longest telomeres, skin the shortest. Humanized Nbs mice (with much longer telo-meres than those in human beings) did not show accelerated telomere attrition.

Our data clearly show that NBS is a secondary telomeropathy with unique features. Te- lomere attrition in NBS may cause genetic instability and contribute to the high cancer incidence in NBS. On the other hand, short telomeres may prevent an even worse pheno-type when a tumor has developed. These data may help to understand the high cancer rate in NBS and also the bifunctional role of telomere shortening in cancerogenesis.

Author Summary

DNA damage is harmful because it leads to mutations in genes that initiate or accelerate cancerogenesis. The devastating consequences of DNA damage are manifested in diseases with non-functional repair pathways such as Nijmegen breakage syndrome (NBS). A common feature of these diseases is a high tumor incidence. However, cancer incidence varies and is not clear why it is highest for NBS. In a previous study, we have shown that the underlying nebrin mutation not only leads to defective DNA repair but also to higher degree of oxidative stress that generates further DNA lesions. Nibrin may play also an important role in protecting chromosome ends, the telomeres, from inap-propriate DNA repair. Therefore we examined the telomere length in NBS and show markedly reduced values in affected patients but not in NBC mice (with much milder phenotype and longer telomeres). Telomere attrition contributes to genetic instability and may thus contribute to the high cancer incidence in NBS. Individual patients with very short telomeres, however, displayed long survival times after cancer manifestation. Thus, short telomeres may also prevent an even worse phenotype when a tumor has developed. These data are fundamental to understanding the high cancer rate in NBS and also the bifunctional role of telomere shortening in cancer.