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Expression pattern analysis of transcribed HERV sequences is complicated by ex vivo recombination

Flockerzi, Aline ; Maydt, Jochen ; Frank, Oliver ; Ruggieri, Alessia ; Maldener, Esther ; Seifarth, Wolfgang ; Medstrand, Patrik LU orcid ; Lengauer, Thomas ; Meyerhans, Andreas and Leib-Moesch, Christine , et al. (2007) In Retrovirology 4.
Abstract
Background: The human genome comprises numerous human endogenous retroviruses ( HERVs) that formed millions of years ago in ancestral species. A number of loci of the HERV-K(HML-2) family are evolutionarily much younger. A recent study suggested an infectious HERV-K(HML-2) variant in humans and other primates. Isolating such a varian t from human individuals would be a significant finding for human biology. Results: When investigating expression patterns of specific HML-2 proviruses we encountered HERV-K(HML-2) cDNA sequences without proviral homologues in the human genome, named HERV-KX, that could very well support recently suggested infectious HML-2 variants. However, detailed sequence analysis, using the software RECCO, suggested that... (More)
Background: The human genome comprises numerous human endogenous retroviruses ( HERVs) that formed millions of years ago in ancestral species. A number of loci of the HERV-K(HML-2) family are evolutionarily much younger. A recent study suggested an infectious HERV-K(HML-2) variant in humans and other primates. Isolating such a varian t from human individuals would be a significant finding for human biology. Results: When investigating expression patterns of specific HML-2 proviruses we encountered HERV-K(HML-2) cDNA sequences without proviral homologues in the human genome, named HERV-KX, that could very well support recently suggested infectious HML-2 variants. However, detailed sequence analysis, using the software RECCO, suggested that HERV-KX sequences were produced by recombination, possibly arising ex vivo, between transcripts from different HML-2 proviral loci. Conclusion: As RT-PCR probably will be instrumental for isolating an infectious HERV-K(HML2) variant, generation of "new" HERV-K(HML-2) sequences by ex vivo recombination seems inevitable. Further complicated by an unknown amount of allelic sequence variation in HERV-K(HML-2) proviruses, newly identified HERV-K(HML-2) variants should be interpreted very cautiously. (Less)
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organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Retrovirology
volume
4
publisher
BioMed Central (BMC)
external identifiers
  • wos:000247633300001
  • scopus:34447301254
ISSN
1742-4690
DOI
10.1186/1742-4690-4-39
language
English
LU publication?
yes
additional info
The information about affiliations in this record was updated in December 2015. The record was previously connected to the following departments: Molecular Virology (013212007)
id
9d401ba5-7ed1-4301-aa49-84fbe17e0c04 (old id 646162)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 16:48:40
date last changed
2022-03-22 21:19:18
@article{9d401ba5-7ed1-4301-aa49-84fbe17e0c04,
  abstract     = {{Background: The human genome comprises numerous human endogenous retroviruses ( HERVs) that formed millions of years ago in ancestral species. A number of loci of the HERV-K(HML-2) family are evolutionarily much younger. A recent study suggested an infectious HERV-K(HML-2) variant in humans and other primates. Isolating such a varian t from human individuals would be a significant finding for human biology. Results: When investigating expression patterns of specific HML-2 proviruses we encountered HERV-K(HML-2) cDNA sequences without proviral homologues in the human genome, named HERV-KX, that could very well support recently suggested infectious HML-2 variants. However, detailed sequence analysis, using the software RECCO, suggested that HERV-KX sequences were produced by recombination, possibly arising ex vivo, between transcripts from different HML-2 proviral loci. Conclusion: As RT-PCR probably will be instrumental for isolating an infectious HERV-K(HML2) variant, generation of "new" HERV-K(HML-2) sequences by ex vivo recombination seems inevitable. Further complicated by an unknown amount of allelic sequence variation in HERV-K(HML-2) proviruses, newly identified HERV-K(HML-2) variants should be interpreted very cautiously.}},
  author       = {{Flockerzi, Aline and Maydt, Jochen and Frank, Oliver and Ruggieri, Alessia and Maldener, Esther and Seifarth, Wolfgang and Medstrand, Patrik and Lengauer, Thomas and Meyerhans, Andreas and Leib-Moesch, Christine and Meese, Eckart and Mayer, Jens}},
  issn         = {{1742-4690}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  publisher    = {{BioMed Central (BMC)}},
  series       = {{Retrovirology}},
  title        = {{Expression pattern analysis of transcribed HERV sequences is complicated by ex vivo recombination}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1742-4690-4-39}},
  doi          = {{10.1186/1742-4690-4-39}},
  volume       = {{4}},
  year         = {{2007}},
}