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Rigogliuso G, Biniossek ML, Goodier JL, Mayer B, Pereira GC, Schilling O, Meese E, Mayer J. A human endogenous retrovirus encoded protease potentially cleaves numerous cellular proteins. Mob DNA 2019; 10:36. [PMID: 31462935 PMCID: PMC6707001 DOI: 10.1186/s13100-019-0178-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/03/2019] [Accepted: 08/13/2019] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Background A considerable portion of the human genome derives from retroviruses inherited over millions of years. Human endogenous retroviruses (HERVs) are usually severely mutated, yet some coding-competent HERVs exist. The HERV-K(HML-2) group includes evolutionarily young proviruses that encode typical retroviral proteins. HERV-K(HML-2) has been implicated in various human diseases because transcription is often upregulated and some of its encoded proteins are known to affect cell biology. HERV-K(HML-2) Protease (Pro) has received little attention so far, although it is expressed in some disease contexts and other retroviral proteases are known to process cellular proteins. Results We set out to identify human cellular proteins that are substrates of HERV-K(HML-2) Pro employing a modified Terminal Amine Isotopic Labeling of Substrates (TAILS) procedure. Thousands of human proteins were identified by this assay as significantly processed by HERV-K(HML-2) Pro at both acidic and neutral pH. We confirmed cleavage of a majority of selected human proteins in vitro and in co-expression experiments in vivo. Sizes of processing products observed for some of the tested proteins coincided with product sizes predicted by TAILS. Processed proteins locate to various cellular compartments and participate in diverse, often disease-relevant cellular processes. A limited number of HERV-K(HML-2) reference and non-reference loci appears capable of encoding active Pro. Conclusions Our findings from an approach combining TAILS with experimental verification of candidate proteins in vitro and in cultured cells suggest that hundreds of cellular proteins are potential substrates of HERV-K(HML-2) Pro. It is therefore conceivable that even low-level expression of HERV-K(HML-2) Pro affects levels of a diverse array of proteins and thus has a functional impact on cell biology and possible relevance for human diseases. Further studies are indicated to elucidate effects of HERV-K(HML-2) Pro expression regarding human substrate proteins, cell biology, and disease. The latter also calls for studies on expression of specific HERV-K(HML-2) loci capable of encoding active Pro. Endogenous retrovirus-encoded Pro activity may also be relevant for disease development in species other than human. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s13100-019-0178-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
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Affiliation(s)
- Giuseppe Rigogliuso
- 1Department of Human Genetics, Medical Faculty, University of Saarland, Homburg, Germany
| | - Martin L Biniossek
- 2Institute of Molecular Medicine and Cell Research, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
| | - John L Goodier
- 3McKusick-Nathans Institute of Genetic Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD USA
| | - Bettina Mayer
- 2Institute of Molecular Medicine and Cell Research, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
| | - Gavin C Pereira
- 3McKusick-Nathans Institute of Genetic Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD USA
| | - Oliver Schilling
- 4Institute of Surgical Pathology, Medical Center, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany.,5German Cancer Consortium (DKTK) and German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Eckart Meese
- 1Department of Human Genetics, Medical Faculty, University of Saarland, Homburg, Germany
| | - Jens Mayer
- 1Department of Human Genetics, Medical Faculty, University of Saarland, Homburg, Germany
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2
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Matteucci C, Balestrieri E, Argaw-Denboba A, Sinibaldi-Vallebona P. Human endogenous retroviruses role in cancer cell stemness. Semin Cancer Biol 2018; 53:17-30. [PMID: 30317035 DOI: 10.1016/j.semcancer.2018.10.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 56] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/18/2018] [Revised: 09/30/2018] [Accepted: 10/05/2018] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
Cancer incidence and mortality, metastasis, drug resistance and recurrence are still the critical issues of oncological diseases. In this scenario, increasing scientific evidences demonstrate that the activation of human endogenous retroviruses (HERVs) is involved in the aggressiveness of tumors such as melanoma, breast, germ cell, renal, ovarian, liver and haematological cancers. In their dynamic regulation, HERVs have also proved to be important determinants of pluripotency in human embryonic stem cells (ESC) and of the reprogramming process of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). In many types of tumors, essential characteristics of aggressiveness have been associated with the achievement of stemness features, often accompanied with the identification of defined subpopulations, termed cancer stem cells (CSCs), which possess stem cell-like properties and sustain tumorigenesis. Indeed, CSCs show high self-renewal capacity with a peculiar potential in tumor initiation, progression, metastasis, heterogeneity, recurrence, radiotherapy and drug resistance. However, HERVs role in CSCs biology is still not fully elucidated. In this regard, CD133 is a widely recognized marker of CSCs, and our group demonstrated, for the first time, the requirement of HERV-K activation to expand and maintain a CD133+ melanoma cell subpopulation with stemness features in response to microenvironmental modifications. The review will discuss HERVs expression as cancer hallmark, with particular focus on their role in the regulation of cancer stemness features and the potential involvement as targets for therapy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Claudia Matteucci
- Department of Experimental Medicine and Surgery, University of Rome "Tor Vergata", Via Montpellier, 1, 00133, Rome, Italy.
| | - Emanuela Balestrieri
- Department of Experimental Medicine and Surgery, University of Rome "Tor Vergata", Via Montpellier, 1, 00133, Rome, Italy
| | - Ayele Argaw-Denboba
- Department of Experimental Medicine and Surgery, University of Rome "Tor Vergata", Via Montpellier, 1, 00133, Rome, Italy; European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), Adriano Buzzati-Traverso Campus, Monterotondo, Rome, Italy
| | - Paola Sinibaldi-Vallebona
- Department of Experimental Medicine and Surgery, University of Rome "Tor Vergata", Via Montpellier, 1, 00133, Rome, Italy; Institute of Translational Pharmacology, National Research Council, Via Fosso del Cavaliere, 100, 00133, Rome, Italy
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3
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Suntsova M, Garazha A, Ivanova A, Kaminsky D, Zhavoronkov A, Buzdin A. Molecular functions of human endogenous retroviruses in health and disease. Cell Mol Life Sci 2015; 72:3653-75. [PMID: 26082181 PMCID: PMC11113533 DOI: 10.1007/s00018-015-1947-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 63] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/21/2015] [Revised: 05/29/2015] [Accepted: 06/03/2015] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
Human endogenous retroviruses (HERVs) and related genetic elements form 504 distinct families and occupy ~8% of human genome. Recent success of high-throughput experimental technologies facilitated understanding functional impact of HERVs for molecular machinery of human cells. HERVs encode active retroviral proteins, which may exert important physiological functions in the body, but also may be involved in the progression of cancer and numerous human autoimmune, neurological and infectious diseases. The spectrum of related malignancies includes, but not limits to, multiple sclerosis, psoriasis, lupus, schizophrenia, multiple cancer types and HIV. In addition, HERVs regulate expression of the neighboring host genes and modify genomic regulatory landscape, e.g., by providing regulatory modules like transcription factor binding sites (TFBS). Indeed, recent bioinformatic profiling identified ~110,000 regulatory active HERV elements, which formed at least ~320,000 human TFBS. These and other peculiarities of HERVs might have played an important role in human evolution and speciation. In this paper, we focus on the current progress in understanding of normal and pathological molecular niches of HERVs, on their implications in human evolution, normal physiology and disease. We also review the available databases dealing with various aspects of HERV genetics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maria Suntsova
- Group for Genomic Regulation of Cell Signaling Systems, Shemyakin-Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Moscow, 117997, Russia.
- Laboratory of Bioinformatics, D. Rogachyov Federal Research Center of Pediatric Hematology, Oncology and Immunology, Moscow, 117198, Russia.
| | - Andrew Garazha
- Group for Genomic Regulation of Cell Signaling Systems, Shemyakin-Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Moscow, 117997, Russia.
- Laboratory of Bioinformatics, D. Rogachyov Federal Research Center of Pediatric Hematology, Oncology and Immunology, Moscow, 117198, Russia.
| | - Alena Ivanova
- Group for Genomic Regulation of Cell Signaling Systems, Shemyakin-Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Moscow, 117997, Russia.
- Pathway Pharmaceuticals, Wan Chai, Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR.
| | - Dmitry Kaminsky
- Pathway Pharmaceuticals, Wan Chai, Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR.
| | - Alex Zhavoronkov
- Pathway Pharmaceuticals, Wan Chai, Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR.
- Department of Translational and Regenerative Medicine, Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, 9 Institutskiy per., Dolgoprudny, Moscow, 141700, Russia.
| | - Anton Buzdin
- Group for Genomic Regulation of Cell Signaling Systems, Shemyakin-Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Moscow, 117997, Russia.
- Pathway Pharmaceuticals, Wan Chai, Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR.
- National Research Centre "Kurchatov Institute", Centre for Convergence of Nano-, Bio-, Information and Cognitive Sciences and Technologies, 1, Akademika Kurchatova sq., Moscow, 123182, Russia.
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4
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Vincendeau M, Göttesdorfer I, Schreml JMH, Wetie AGN, Mayer J, Greenwood AD, Helfer M, Kramer S, Seifarth W, Hadian K, Brack-Werner R, Leib-Mösch C. Modulation of human endogenous retrovirus (HERV) transcription during persistent and de novo HIV-1 infection. Retrovirology 2015; 12:27. [PMID: 25886562 PMCID: PMC4375885 DOI: 10.1186/s12977-015-0156-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/05/2014] [Accepted: 03/05/2015] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The human genome contains multiple LTR elements including human endogenous retroviruses (HERVs) that together account for approximately 8-9% of the genomic DNA. At least 40 different HERV groups have been assigned to three major HERV classes on the basis of their homologies to exogenous retroviruses. Although most HERVs are silenced by a variety of genetic and epigenetic mechanisms, they may be reactivated by environmental stimuli such as exogenous viruses and thus may contribute to pathogenic conditions. The objective of this study was to perform an in-depth analysis of the influence of HIV-1 infection on HERV activity in different cell types. RESULTS A retrovirus-specific microarray that covers major HERV groups from all three classes was used to analyze HERV transcription patterns in three persistently HIV-1 infected cell lines of different cellular origins and in their uninfected counterparts. All three persistently infected cell lines showed increased transcription of multiple class I and II HERV groups. Up-regulated transcription of five HERV taxa (HERV-E, HERV-T, HERV-K (HML-10) and two ERV9 subgroups) was confirmed by quantitative reverse transcriptase PCR analysis and could be reversed by knock-down of HIV-1 expression with HIV-1-specific siRNAs. Cells infected de novo by HIV-1 showed stronger transcriptional up-regulation of the HERV-K (HML-2) group than persistently infected cells of the same origin. Analysis of transcripts from individual members of this group revealed up-regulation of predominantly two proviral loci (ERVK-7 and ERVK-15) on chromosomes 1q22 and 7q34 in persistently infected KE37.1 cells, as well as in de novo HIV-1 infected LC5 cells, while only one single HML-2 locus (ERV-K6) on chromosome 7p22.1 was activated in persistently infected LC5 cells. CONCLUSIONS Our results demonstrate that HIV-1 can alter HERV transcription patterns of infected cells and indicate a correlation between activation of HERV elements and the level of HIV-1 production. Moreover, our results suggest that the effects of HIV-1 on HERV activity may be far more extensive and complex than anticipated from initial studies with clinical material.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michelle Vincendeau
- Institute of Virology, Helmholtz Zentrum München, German Research Center for Environmental Health, Neuherberg, Germany. .,Research Unit Cellular Signal Integration, Institute of Molecular Toxicology and Pharmacology, Helmholtz Zentrum München, German Research Center for Environmental Health, Neuherberg, Germany.
| | - Ingmar Göttesdorfer
- Institute of Virology, Helmholtz Zentrum München, German Research Center for Environmental Health, Neuherberg, Germany.
| | - Julia M H Schreml
- Department of Hematology and Oncology, University Hospital Mannheim, University of Heidelberg, Mannheim, Germany.
| | - Armand G Ngounou Wetie
- Institute of Virology, Helmholtz Zentrum München, German Research Center for Environmental Health, Neuherberg, Germany.
| | - Jens Mayer
- Department of Human Genetics, Center of Human and Molecular Biology, Medical Faculty, University of Saarland, Homburg, Germany.
| | - Alex D Greenwood
- Department of Wildlife Diseases, Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Berlin, Germany.
| | - Markus Helfer
- Institute of Virology, Helmholtz Zentrum München, German Research Center for Environmental Health, Neuherberg, Germany.
| | - Susanne Kramer
- Institute of Virology, Helmholtz Zentrum München, German Research Center for Environmental Health, Neuherberg, Germany.
| | - Wolfgang Seifarth
- Department of Hematology and Oncology, University Hospital Mannheim, University of Heidelberg, Mannheim, Germany.
| | - Kamyar Hadian
- Research Unit Cellular Signal Integration, Institute of Molecular Toxicology and Pharmacology, Helmholtz Zentrum München, German Research Center for Environmental Health, Neuherberg, Germany. .,Assay Development and Screening Platform, Institute of Molecular Toxicology and Pharmacology, Helmholtz Zentrum München, German Research Center for Environmental Health, Neuherberg, Germany.
| | - Ruth Brack-Werner
- Institute of Virology, Helmholtz Zentrum München, German Research Center for Environmental Health, Neuherberg, Germany.
| | - Christine Leib-Mösch
- Institute of Virology, Helmholtz Zentrum München, German Research Center for Environmental Health, Neuherberg, Germany. .,Department of Hematology and Oncology, University Hospital Mannheim, University of Heidelberg, Mannheim, Germany.
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5
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Bae JH, Eo J, Kim TO, Yi JM. Biological changes of transposable elements by radiation: recent progress. Genes Genomics 2014. [DOI: 10.1007/s13258-014-0256-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
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6
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Gonzalez-Hernandez MJ, Cavalcoli JD, Sartor MA, Contreras-Galindo R, Meng F, Dai M, Dube D, Saha AK, Gitlin SD, Omenn GS, Kaplan MH, Markovitz DM. Regulation of the human endogenous retrovirus K (HML-2) transcriptome by the HIV-1 Tat protein. J Virol 2014; 88:8924-35. [PMID: 24872592 PMCID: PMC4136263 DOI: 10.1128/jvi.00556-14] [Citation(s) in RCA: 48] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/27/2014] [Accepted: 05/22/2014] [Indexed: 01/24/2023] Open
Abstract
UNLABELLED Approximately 8% of the human genome is made up of endogenous retroviral sequences. As the HIV-1 Tat protein activates the overall expression of the human endogenous retrovirus type K (HERV-K) (HML-2), we used next-generation sequencing to determine which of the 91 currently annotated HERV-K (HML-2) proviruses are regulated by Tat. Transcriptome sequencing of total RNA isolated from Tat- and vehicle-treated peripheral blood lymphocytes from a healthy donor showed that Tat significantly activates expression of 26 unique HERV-K (HML-2) proviruses, silences 12, and does not significantly alter the expression of the remaining proviruses. Quantitative reverse transcription-PCR validation of the sequencing data was performed on Tat-treated PBLs of seven donors using provirus-specific primers and corroborated the results with a substantial degree of quantitative similarity. IMPORTANCE The expression of HERV-K (HML-2) is tightly regulated but becomes markedly increased following infection with HIV-1, in part due to the HIV-1 Tat protein. The findings reported here demonstrate the complexity of the genome-wide regulation of HERV-K (HML-2) expression by Tat. This work also demonstrates that although HERV-K (HML-2) proviruses in the human genome are highly similar in terms of DNA sequence, modulation of the expression of specific proviruses in a given biological situation can be ascertained using next-generation sequencing and bioinformatics analysis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marta J Gonzalez-Hernandez
- Department of Internal Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA Program in Immunology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
| | - James D Cavalcoli
- Center for Computational Medicine and Bioinformatics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
| | - Maureen A Sartor
- Center for Computational Medicine and Bioinformatics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA Department of Biostatistics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA School of Public Health, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
| | | | - Fan Meng
- Center for Computational Medicine and Bioinformatics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA Molecular and Behavioral Neuroscience Institute, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
| | - Manhong Dai
- Center for Computational Medicine and Bioinformatics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA Molecular and Behavioral Neuroscience Institute, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
| | - Derek Dube
- Department of Internal Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
| | - Anjan K Saha
- Department of Internal Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
| | - Scott D Gitlin
- Department of Internal Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA Department of Veterans Affairs, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
| | - Gilbert S Omenn
- Department of Internal Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA Center for Computational Medicine and Bioinformatics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA School of Public Health, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA National Center for Integrative Biomedical Informatics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA Department of Human Genetics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
| | - Mark H Kaplan
- Department of Internal Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
| | - David M Markovitz
- Department of Internal Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA Program in Immunology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA Program in Cancer Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA Cellular and Molecular Biology Program, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
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7
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Douville RN, Nath A. Human endogenous retroviruses and the nervous system. HANDBOOK OF CLINICAL NEUROLOGY 2014; 123:465-85. [PMID: 25015500 DOI: 10.1016/b978-0-444-53488-0.00022-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Renée N Douville
- Department of Microbiology, University of Winnipeg, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
| | - Avindra Nath
- Section of Infections of the Nervous System, National Institute of Neurological Diseases and Stroke, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.
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8
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Schmitt K, Reichrath J, Roesch A, Meese E, Mayer J. Transcriptional profiling of human endogenous retrovirus group HERV-K(HML-2) loci in melanoma. Genome Biol Evol 2013; 5:307-28. [PMID: 23338945 PMCID: PMC3590776 DOI: 10.1093/gbe/evt010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 84] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Recent studies suggested a role for the human endogenous retrovirus (HERV) group HERV-K(HML-2) in melanoma because of upregulated transcription and expression of HERV-K(HML-2)-encoded proteins. Very little is known about which HML-2 loci are transcribed in melanoma. We assigned >1,400 HML-2 cDNA sequences generated from various melanoma and related samples to genomic HML-2 loci, identifying a total of 23 loci as transcribed. Transcription profiles of loci differed significantly between samples. One locus was found transcribed only in melanoma-derived samples but not in melanocytes and might represent a marker for melanoma. Several of the transcribed loci harbor ORFs for retroviral Gag and/or Env proteins. Env-encoding loci were transcribed only in melanoma. Specific investigation of rec and np9 transcripts indicated transcription of protein encoding loci in melanoma and melanocytes hinting at the relevance of Rec and Np9 in melanoma. UVB irradiation changed transcription profiles of loci and overall transcript levels decreased in melanoma and melanocytes. We further identified transcribed HML-2 loci formed by reverse transcription of spliced HML-2 transcripts by L1 machinery or in a retroviral fashion, with loci potentially encoding HML-2-like proteins. We reveal complex, sample-specific transcription of HML-2 loci in melanoma and related samples. Identified HML-2 loci and proteins encoded by those loci are particularly relevant for further studying the role of HML-2 in melanoma. Transcription of HERVs appears as a complex mechanism requiring specific studies to elucidate which HERV loci are transcribed and how transcribed HERVs may be involved in disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katja Schmitt
- Institute of Human Genetics, Medical Faculty, University of Saarland, Homburg/Saar, Germany
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9
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Jung YD, Ahn K, Kim YJ, Bae JH, Lee JR, Kim HS. Retroelements: molecular features and implications for disease. Genes Genet Syst 2013; 88:31-43. [PMID: 23676708 DOI: 10.1266/ggs.88.31] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Eukaryotic genomes comprise numerous retroelements that have a major impact on the structure and regulation of gene function. Retroelements are regulated by epigenetic controls, and they generate multiple miRNAs that are involved in the induction and progression of genomic instability. Elucidation of the biological roles of retroelements deserves continuous investigation to better understand their evolutionary features and implications for disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yi-Deun Jung
- Department of Biological Sciences, College of Natural Sciences, Pusan National University, Busan 609-735, Republic of Korea
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10
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Shin W, Lee J, Son SY, Ahn K, Kim HS, Han K. Human-specific HERV-K insertion causes genomic variations in the human genome. PLoS One 2013; 8:e60605. [PMID: 23593260 PMCID: PMC3625200 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0060605] [Citation(s) in RCA: 48] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/13/2012] [Accepted: 02/28/2013] [Indexed: 01/28/2023] Open
Abstract
Human endogenous retroviruses (HERV) sequences account for about 8% of the human genome. Through comparative genomics and literature mining, we identified a total of 29 human-specific HERV-K insertions. We characterized them focusing on their structure and flanking sequence. The results showed that four of the human-specific HERV-K insertions deleted human genomic sequences via non-classical insertion mechanisms. Interestingly, two of the human-specific HERV-K insertion loci contained two HERV-K internals and three LTR elements, a pattern which could be explained by LTR-LTR ectopic recombination or template switching. In addition, we conducted a polymorphic test and observed that twelve out of the 29 elements are polymorphic in the human population. In conclusion, human-specific HERV-K elements have inserted into human genome since the divergence of human and chimpanzee, causing human genomic changes. Thus, we believe that human-specific HERV-K activity has contributed to the genomic divergence between humans and chimpanzees, as well as within the human population.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wonseok Shin
- Department of Nanobiomedical Science and WCU Research Center, Dankook University, Cheonan, Republic of Korea
| | - Jungnam Lee
- Department of Nanobiomedical Science and WCU Research Center, Dankook University, Cheonan, Republic of Korea
| | - Seung-Yeol Son
- Department of Microbiology, College of Advanced Science, Dankook University, Cheonan, Republic of Korea
| | - Kung Ahn
- Department of Biological Sciences, College of Natural Sciences, Pusan National University, Busan, Republic of Korea
| | - Heui-Soo Kim
- Department of Biological Sciences, College of Natural Sciences, Pusan National University, Busan, Republic of Korea
| | - Kyudong Han
- Department of Nanobiomedical Science and WCU Research Center, Dankook University, Cheonan, Republic of Korea
- * E-mail:
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11
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Reconstitution of the ancestral glycoprotein of human endogenous retrovirus k and modulation of its functional activity by truncation of the cytoplasmic domain. J Virol 2009; 83:12790-800. [PMID: 19812154 DOI: 10.1128/jvi.01368-09] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/11/2023] Open
Abstract
Endogenous retroviruses present in the human genome provide a rich record of ancient infections. All presently recognized elements, including the youngest and most intact proviruses of the human endogenous retrovirus K(HML-2) [HERV-K(HML-2)] family, have suffered postinsertional mutations during their time of chromosomal residence, and genes encoding the envelope glycoprotein (Env) have not been spared these mutations. In this study, we have, for the first time, reconstituted an authentic Env of a HERV-K(HML-2) provirus by back mutation of putative postinsertional amino acid changes of the protein encoded by HERV-K113. Aided by codon-optimized expression, we demonstrate that the reconstituted Env regained its ability to be incorporated into retroviral particles and to mediate entry. The original ancient HERV-K113 Env was synthesized as a moderately glycosylated gp95 precursor protein cleaved into surface and transmembrane (TM) subunits. Of the nine N-linked oligosaccharides, four are part of the TM subunit, contributing 15 kDa to its apparent molecular mass of 41 kDa. The carbohydrates, as well as the cytoplasmic tail, are critical for efficient intracellular trafficking, processing, stability, and particle incorporation. Whereas deletions of the carboxy-terminal 6 residues completely abrogated cleavage and virion association, more extensive truncations slightly enhanced incorporation but dramatically increased the ability to mediate entry of pseudotyped lentiviruses. Although the first HERV-K(HML-2) elements infected human ancestors about 30 million years ago, our findings indicate that their glycoproteins are in most respects remarkably similar to those of classical contemporary retroviruses and can still mediate efficient entry into mammalian cells.
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12
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Jha AR, Pillai SK, York VA, Sharp ER, Storm EC, Wachter DJ, Martin JN, Deeks SG, Rosenberg MG, Nixon DF, Garrison KE. Cross-sectional dating of novel haplotypes of HERV-K 113 and HERV-K 115 indicate these proviruses originated in Africa before Homo sapiens. Mol Biol Evol 2009; 26:2617-26. [PMID: 19666991 PMCID: PMC2760466 DOI: 10.1093/molbev/msp180] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
The human genome, human endogenous retroviruses (HERV), of which HERV-K113 and HERV-K115 are the only known full-length proviruses that are insertionally polymorphic. Although a handful of previously published papers have documented their prevalence in the global population; to date, there has been no report on their prevalence in the United States population. Here, we studied the geographic distribution of K113 and K115 among 156 HIV-1+ subjects from the United States, including African Americans, Hispanics, and Caucasians. In the individuals studied, we found higher insertion frequencies of K113 (21%) and K115 (35%) in African Americans compared with Caucasians (K113 9% and K115 6%) within the United States. We also report the presence of three single nucleotide polymorphism sites in the K113 5′ long terminal repeats (LTRs) and four in the K115 5′ LTR that together constituted four haplotypes for K113 and five haplotypes for K115. HERV insertion times can be estimated from the sequence differences between the 5′ and 3′ LTR of each insertion, but this dating method cannot be used with HERV-K115. We developed a method to estimate insertion times by applying coalescent inference to 5′ LTR sequences within our study population and validated this approach using an independent estimate derived from the genetic distance between K113 5′ and 3′ LTR sequences. Using our method, we estimated the insertion dates of K113 and K115 to be a minimum of 800,000 and 1.1 million years ago, respectively. Both these insertion dates predate the emergence of anatomically modern Homo sapiens.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aashish R Jha
- Division of Experimental Medicine, University of California San Francisco, CA, USA
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Blomberg J, Benachenhou F, Blikstad V, Sperber G, Mayer J. Classification and nomenclature of endogenous retroviral sequences (ERVs): problems and recommendations. Gene 2009; 448:115-23. [PMID: 19540319 DOI: 10.1016/j.gene.2009.06.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 86] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/03/2009] [Revised: 06/09/2009] [Accepted: 06/12/2009] [Indexed: 01/27/2023]
Abstract
The genomes of many species are crowded with repetitive mobile sequences. In the case of endogenous retroviruses (ERVs) there is, for various reasons, considerable confusion regarding names assigned to families/groups of ERVs as well as individual ERV loci. Human ERVs have been studied in greater detail, and naming of HERVs in the scientific literature is somewhat confusing not just to the outsider. Without guidelines, confusion for ERVs in other species will also probably increase if those ERVs are studied in greater detail. Based on previous experience, this review highlights some of the problems when naming and classifying ERVs, and provides some guidance for detecting and characterizing ERV sequences. Because of the close relationship between ERVs and exogenous retroviruses (XRVs) it is reasonable to reconcile their classification with that of XRVs. We here argue that classification should be based on a combination of similarity, structural features, (inferred) function, and previous nomenclature. Because the RepBase system is widely employed in genome annotation, RepBase designations should be considered in further taxonomic efforts. To lay a foundation for a phylogenetically based taxonomy, further analyses of ERVs in many hosts are needed. A dedicated, permanent, international consortium would best be suited to integrate and communicate our current and future knowledge on repetitive, mobile elements in general to the scientific community.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jonas Blomberg
- Section of Virology, Department of Medical Sciences, Academic Hospital, 75185 Uppsala, Sweden.
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Flockerzi A, Ruggieri A, Frank O, Sauter M, Maldener E, Kopper B, Wullich B, Seifarth W, Müller-Lantzsch N, Leib-Mösch C, Meese E, Mayer J. Expression patterns of transcribed human endogenous retrovirus HERV-K(HML-2) loci in human tissues and the need for a HERV Transcriptome Project. BMC Genomics 2008; 9:354. [PMID: 18664271 PMCID: PMC2525661 DOI: 10.1186/1471-2164-9-354] [Citation(s) in RCA: 83] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/10/2008] [Accepted: 07/29/2008] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
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.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aline Flockerzi
- Department of Human Genetics, Medical Faculty, University of Saarland, Homburg, Germany.
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Flockerzi A, Maydt J, Frank O, Ruggieri A, Maldener E, Seifarth W, Medstrand P, Lengauer T, Meyerhans A, Leib-Mösch C, Meese E, Mayer J. Expression pattern analysis of transcribed HERV sequences is complicated by ex vivo recombination. Retrovirology 2007; 4:39. [PMID: 17550625 PMCID: PMC1904241 DOI: 10.1186/1742-4690-4-39] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/17/2007] [Accepted: 06/06/2007] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
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 variant 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(HML-2) 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.
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MESH Headings
- Base Sequence
- DNA, Complementary/chemistry
- DNA, Complementary/genetics
- DNA, Complementary/isolation & purification
- DNA, Viral/chemistry
- DNA, Viral/genetics
- DNA, Viral/isolation & purification
- Endogenous Retroviruses/genetics
- Gene Expression
- Genome, Human
- Humans
- Molecular Sequence Data
- Phylogeny
- Proviruses/genetics
- RNA, Viral/biosynthesis
- RNA, Viral/genetics
- Recombination, Genetic
- Sequence Analysis, DNA
- Sequence Homology
- Software
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Affiliation(s)
- Aline Flockerzi
- Department of Human Genetics, Medical Faculty, University of Saarland, Homburg, Germany
| | - Jochen Maydt
- Max Planck-Institute for Informatics, Saarbruecken, Germany
| | - Oliver Frank
- Medical Faculty Mannheim of the Ruprecht-Karls, University of Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Alessia Ruggieri
- Department of Human Genetics, Medical Faculty, University of Saarland, Homburg, Germany
| | - Esther Maldener
- Department of Human Genetics, Medical Faculty, University of Saarland, Homburg, Germany
| | - Wolfgang Seifarth
- Medical Faculty Mannheim of the Ruprecht-Karls, University of Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Patrik Medstrand
- Department of Experimental Medical Sciences, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
| | | | - Andreas Meyerhans
- Institute of Virology, Medical Faculty, University of Saarland, Homburg, Germany
| | - Christine Leib-Mösch
- Medical Faculty Mannheim of the Ruprecht-Karls, University of Heidelberg, Germany
- GSF – National Research Center for Environment and Health, Institute of Molecular Virology, Neuherberg, Germany
| | - Eckart Meese
- Department of Human Genetics, Medical Faculty, University of Saarland, Homburg, Germany
| | - Jens Mayer
- Department of Human Genetics, Medical Faculty, University of Saarland, Homburg, Germany
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Buzdin A, Kovalskaya-Alexandrova E, Gogvadze E, Sverdlov E. At least 50% of human-specific HERV-K (HML-2) long terminal repeats serve in vivo as active promoters for host nonrepetitive DNA transcription. J Virol 2006; 80:10752-62. [PMID: 17041225 PMCID: PMC1641792 DOI: 10.1128/jvi.00871-06] [Citation(s) in RCA: 80] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
We report the first genome-wide comparison of in vivo promoter activities of a group of human-specific endogenous retroviruses in healthy and cancerous germ line tissues. To this end, we employed a recently developed technique termed genomic repeat expression monitoring. We found that at least 50% of human-specific long terminal repeats (LTRs) possessed promoter activity, and many of them were up- or downregulated in a seminoma. Individual LTRs were expressed at markedly different levels, ranging from approximately 0.001 to approximately 3% of the housekeeping beta-actin gene transcript level. We demonstrated that the main factors affecting the LTR promoter activity were the LTR type (5'-proviral, 3' proviral, or solitary) and position with regard to genes. The averaged promoter strengths of solitary and 3'-proviral LTRs were almost identical in both tissues, whereas 5'-proviral LTRs displayed two- to fivefold higher promoter activities. The relative content of promoter-active LTRs in gene-rich regions was significantly higher than that in gene-poor loci. This content was maximal in those regions where LTRs "overlapped" readthrough transcripts. Although many promoter-active LTRs were mapped near known genes, no clear-cut correlation was observed between transcriptional activities of genes and neighboring LTRs. Our data also suggest a selective suppression of transcription for LTRs located in gene introns.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anton Buzdin
- Shemyakin-Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, 16/10 Miklukho-Maklaya, Moscow 117997, Russia.
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Buzdin A, Kovalskaya-Alexandrova E, Gogvadze E, Sverdlov E. GREM, a technique for genome-wide isolation and quantitative analysis of promoter active repeats. Nucleic Acids Res 2006; 34:e67. [PMID: 16698959 PMCID: PMC3303178 DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkl335] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/26/2022] Open
Abstract
We developed a technique called GREM (Genomic Repeat Expression Monitor) that can be applied to genome-wide isolation and quantitative analysis of any kind of transcriptionally active repetitive elements. Briefly, the technique includes three major stages: (i) generation of a transcriptome wide library of cDNA 5′ terminal fragments, (ii) selective amplification of repeat-flanking genomic loci and (iii) hybridization of the cDNA library (i) to the amplicon (ii) with subsequent selective amplification and cloning of the cDNA-genome hybrids. The sequences obtained serve as ‘tags’ for promoter active repetitive elements. The advantage of GREM is an unambiguous mapping of individual promoter active repeats at a genome-wide level. We applied GREM for genome-wide experimental identification of human-specific endogenous retroviruses and their solitary long terminal repeats (LTRs) acting in vivo as promoters. Importantly, GREM tag frequencies linearly correlated with the corresponding LTR-driven transcript levels found using RT–PCR. The GREM technique enabled us to identify 54 new functional human promoters created by retroviral LTRs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anton Buzdin
- Shemyakin-Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, 16/10 Miklukho-Maklaya, Moscow 117997, Russia.
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Herrera RJ, Lowery RK, Alfonso A, McDonald JF, Luis JR. Ancient retroviral insertions among human populations. J Hum Genet 2006; 51:353-362. [PMID: 16518567 DOI: 10.1007/s10038-006-0370-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/17/2005] [Accepted: 12/25/2005] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
Abstract
Human endogenous retroviruses (HERVs) represent vestiges of ancient infections that resulted in stable integration of the viral genome. These insertional elements of viral origin are in fact molecular fossils and, as such, a source of evolutionary information. A family of HERV insertions designated HERV-K includes members that are still polymorphic for the original insertional event. The goal of this report is to describe a novel genetic marker system based on polymorphic retroviral insertions (PRVIs) and to assess its potential usefulness in human population genetic analyses. The allelic frequencies of four insertionally polymorphic HERV-K loci were analyzed in nine geographically targeted, worldwide populations. A polymerase chain reaction assay was employed to examine the frequencies of the provirus and/or solo long terminal repeat insertions at these four loci. Several statistical and phylogenetic analyses were performed based on the frequency data. The phylogenetic relationships observed among the nine populations based on the four retroviral HERV-K loci are consistent not only with prior genetic analyses with other traditional marker systems but also with reported historical and biogeographical data. These polymorphic endogenous retroviral sequences display features that make them excellent tools for forensic and population genetic studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rene J Herrera
- Department of Biological Sciences, Florida International University, University Park, OE 304, Miami, FL, 33199, USA.
| | - Robert K Lowery
- Department of Biological Sciences, Florida International University, University Park, OE 304, Miami, FL, 33199, USA
| | - Abraham Alfonso
- Department of Biological Sciences, Florida International University, University Park, OE 304, Miami, FL, 33199, USA
| | - John F McDonald
- School of Biology, Georgia Institute of Technology, 310 Ferst Drive, Atlanta, GA, 30332-0230, USA
| | - Javier R Luis
- Department of Biological Sciences, Florida International University, University Park, OE 304, Miami, FL, 33199, USA
- Departamento de Bioquímica, Xenética e Inmunoloxía, Universidade de Vigo, Vigo, Spain
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