Shwachman-Diamond Syndrome Protein SBDS Maintains Human Telomeres by Regulating Telomerase Recruitment

Shwachman-Diamond syndrome (SDS) is a rare pediatric disease characterized by various systemic disorders, including hematopoietic dysfunction. The mutation of Shwachman-Bodian-Diamond syndrome (SBDS) gene has been proposed to be a major causative reason for SDS. Although SBDS patients were reported to have shorter telomere length in granulocytes, the underlying mechanism is still unclear. Here we provide data to elucidate the role of SBDS in telomere protection. We demonstrate that SBDS deficiency leads to telomere shortening. We found that overexpression of disease-associated SBDS mutants or knockdown of SBDS hampered the recruitment of telomerase onto telomeres, while the overall reverse transcriptase activity of telomerase remained unaffected. Moreover, we show that SBDS could specifically bind to TPP1 during the S phase of cell cycle, likely functioning as a stabilizer for TPP1-telomerase interaction. Our findings suggest that SBDS is a telomere-protecting protein that participates in regulating telomerase recruitment. [Display omitted] •SBDS deficiency leads to telomere shortening•SBDS regulates telomerase recruitment to telomeres•SBDS interacts with TPP1 in a cell cycle-dependent manner•Disease-associated mutants of SBDS impede the telomerase-binding ability of TPP1 The mutation of Shwachman-Bodian-Diamond syndrome (SBDS) gene is a major causative reason for Shwachman-Diamond syndrome (SDS). Liu et al. show that SBDS is a cell cycle-dependent telomere-protecting protein that facilitates TPP1-mediated telomerase recruitment, revealing the underlying mechanism of telomere shortening found in SDS patients.