A genome-wide screen for essentiality upon telomerase inhibition identifies a novel p53 regulator, C16ORF72/TAPR1 [RNA-seq]

Telomere erosion in cells with insufficient levels of the telomerase reverse transcriptase, TERT, contributes to age-associated tissue dysfunction and senescence, and p53 plays a crucial role in this response. We undertook a genome-wide screen to identify gene deletions that sensitized p53-positive human cells to telomerase inhibition. We uncovered a previously unannotated gene, C16ORF72, which we term Telomere Attrition and p53 Response 1, TAPR1, that exhibited a synthetic-sick relationship with TERT loss. A genome-wide screen in TAPR1-disrupted cells also identified TERT as a sensitizing gene deletion. Additional genetic and transcriptome analysis of TAPR1-disrupted cells revealed that TAPR1 tapered p53 activation in response to eroded telomeres, p53 stabilization with nutlin-3a, or DNA damage. Importantly, deletion of TP53 rescued the fitness defect in TAPR1-disrupted cells. These findings identify C16ORF72/TAPR1 as new regulator at the nexus between telomere integrity and p53 regulation.