Characterization of a novel human endogenous retrovirus, HERV-H/F, expressed in human leukemia cell lines

Summary, in English

We have identified and characterized a human endogenous retrovirus (HERV) gag transcript in the human pre-B cell leukemia line Reh. The transcript was found to be a splice product of a structurally intact HERV element located on chromosome 6q13. Its primer binding site is complementary to phenylalanine (F) tRNA, common for the HERV-F family, but the overall genome sequence is closely related to the HERV-H family. The retroviral sequence was therefore designated HERV-H/F The HERV element shows a distinct mRNA expression pattern among hematopoietic cancer cell lines with expression in some leukemia-derived cell lines of B-lymphoid and myeloid origin. No expression was observed in normal human tissues, indicating a cancer-specific expression pattern. The 5' long terminal repeat (LTR) was tested for promoter activity in HERV-H/F expressing and nonexpressing cell lines. The cell specificity of the LTR-mediated reporter gene expression did not conclusively correlate with endogenous virus expression, indicating that the transcription regulation of this gene is not alone dependent on cell-specific activity of transcription factors. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science (USA).

• Författare: S Patzke; Mats Lindeskog; E Munthe; HC Aasheim
• Avdelning/ar: Institutionen för naturgeografi och ekosystemvetenskap
• Publiceringsår: 2002
• Språk: Engelska
• Sidor: 164-173
• Publikation/Tidskrift/Serie: Virology
• Volym: 303
• Issue: 1
• Länkar: http://dx.doi.org/10.1006/viro.2002.1615
• Dokumenttyp: Artikel i tidskrift
• Förlag: Elsevier
• Ämne: Microbiology in the medical area
• Nyckelord: LTR; leukemia; HERV; endogenous retrovirus; expression
• Status: Published
• ISBN/ISSN/Övrigt: ISSN: 1096-0341