In: BMC Genomics, 9 (2008), Nr. 354. pp. 1-17. ISSN 1471-2164
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Abstract
Background: A significant proportion of the human genome is comprised of human endogenous retroviruses (HERVs). HERV transcripts are found in every human tissue. Expression of proviruses of the HERV-K(HML-2) family has been associated with development of human tumors, in particular germ cell tumors (GCT). Very little is known about transcriptional activity of individual HML-2 loci in human tissues, though. Results: By employing private nucleotide differences between loci, we assigned ~1500 HML-2 cDNAs to individual HML-2 loci, identifying, in total, 23 transcriptionally active HML-2 proviruses. Several loci are active in various human tissue types. Transcription levels of some HML-2 loci appear higher than those of other loci. Several HML-2 Rec-encoding loci are expressed in GCT and non-GCT tissues. A provirus on chromosome 22q11.21 appears strongly upregulated in pathologic GCT tissues and may explain high HML-2 Gag protein levels in GCTs. Presence of Gag and Env antibodies in GCT patients is not correlated with activation of individual loci. HML-2 proviruses previously reported capable of forming an infectious HML-2 variant are transcriptionally active in germ cell tissue. Our study furthermore shows that Expressed Sequence Tag (EST) data are insufficient to describe transcriptional activity of HML-2 and other HERV loci in tissues of interest. Conclusion: Our, to date, largest-scale study reveals in greater detail expression patterns of individual HML-2 loci in human tissues of clinical interest. Moreover, large-scale, specialized studies are indicated to better comprehend transcriptional activity and regulation of HERVs. We thus emphasize the need for a specialized HERV Transcriptome Project.
Document type: | Article |
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Journal or Publication Title: | BMC Genomics |
Volume: | 9 |
Number: | 354 |
Publisher: | BioMed Central; Springer |
Place of Publication: | London; Berlin; Heidelberg |
Date Deposited: | 22 Feb 2016 12:08 |
Date: | 2008 |
ISSN: | 1471-2164 |
Page Range: | pp. 1-17 |
Faculties / Institutes: | Medizinische Fakultät Mannheim > Medizinische Klinik - Lehrstuhl für Innere Medizin III Medizinische Fakultät Heidelberg > Department for Infectiology |
DDC-classification: | 570 Life sciences 610 Medical sciences Medicine |