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Moadab F, Sohrabi S, Wang X, Najjar R, Wolters JC, Jiang H, Miao W, Romero D, Zaller DM, Tran M, Bays A, Taylor MS, Kapeller R, LaCava J, Mustelin T. Subcellular location of L1 retrotransposon-encoded ORF1p, reverse transcription products, and DNA sensors in lupus granulocytes. Mob DNA 2024; 15:14. [PMID: 38937837 PMCID: PMC11212426 DOI: 10.1186/s13100-024-00324-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/14/2024] [Accepted: 06/18/2024] [Indexed: 06/29/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic autoimmune disease with an unpredictable course of recurrent exacerbations alternating with more stable disease. SLE is characterized by broad immune activation and autoantibodies against double-stranded DNA and numerous proteins that exist in cells as aggregates with nucleic acids, such as Ro60, MOV10, and the L1 retrotransposon-encoded ORF1p. RESULTS Here we report that these 3 proteins are co-expressed and co-localized in a subset of SLE granulocytes and are concentrated in cytosolic dots that also contain DNA: RNA heteroduplexes and the DNA sensor ZBP1, but not cGAS. The DNA: RNA heteroduplexes vanished from the neutrophils when they were treated with a selective inhibitor of the L1 reverse transcriptase. We also report that ORF1p granules escape neutrophils during the extrusion of neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) and, to a lesser degree, from neutrophils dying by pyroptosis, but not apoptosis. CONCLUSIONS These results bring new insights into the composition of ORF1p granules in SLE neutrophils and may explain, in part, why proteins in these granules become targeted by autoantibodies in this disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fatemeh Moadab
- Division of Rheumatology, Department of Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Sepideh Sohrabi
- Division of Rheumatology, Department of Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Xiaoxing Wang
- Division of Rheumatology, Department of Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Rayan Najjar
- Division of Rheumatology, Department of Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Justina C Wolters
- Department of Pediatrics, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands
| | - Hua Jiang
- Laboratory of Cellular and Structural Biology, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY, USA
| | | | | | | | - Megan Tran
- Division of Rheumatology, Department of Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Alison Bays
- Division of Rheumatology, Department of Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Martin S Taylor
- Department of Pathology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | | | - John LaCava
- Laboratory of Cellular and Structural Biology, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY, USA
- European Research Institute for the Biology of Ageing, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands
| | - Tomas Mustelin
- Division of Rheumatology, Department of Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.
- University of Washington, 750 Republican Street, Room E507, Seattle, WA, 98109, USA.
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Dopkins N, Nixon DF. Activation of human endogenous retroviruses and its physiological consequences. Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol 2024; 25:212-222. [PMID: 37872387 DOI: 10.1038/s41580-023-00674-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 09/27/2023] [Indexed: 10/25/2023]
Abstract
Human endogenous retroviruses (HERVs) are abundant sequences that persist within the human genome as remnants of ancient retroviral infections. These sequences became fixed and accumulate mutations or deletions over time. HERVs have affected human evolution and physiology by providing a unique repertoire of coding and non-coding sequences to the genome. In healthy individuals, HERVs participate in immune responses, formation of syncytiotrophoblasts and cell-fate specification. In this Review, we discuss how endogenized retroviral motifs and regulatory sequences have been co-opted into human physiology and how they are tightly regulated. Infections and mutations can derail this regulation, leading to differential HERV expression, which may contribute to pathologies including neurodegeneration, pathological inflammation and oncogenesis. Emerging evidence demonstrates that HERVs are crucial to human health and represent an understudied facet of many diseases, and we therefore argue that investigating their fundamental properties could improve existing therapies and help develop novel therapeutic strategies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicholas Dopkins
- Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, USA.
| | - Douglas F Nixon
- Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, USA.
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Najjar R, Rogel N, Pineda JMB, Wang X, Tran M, Bays A, Mustelin T. Large overlap in neutrophil transcriptome between lupus and COVID-19 with limited lupus-specific gene expression. Lupus Sci Med 2024; 11:e001059. [PMID: 38302132 PMCID: PMC10831459 DOI: 10.1136/lupus-2023-001059] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/22/2023] [Accepted: 01/22/2024] [Indexed: 02/03/2024]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES To illuminate the poorly understood aetiology of SLE by comparing the gene expression profile of SLE neutrophils with that of neutrophils from patients infected by SARS-CoV-2, a disease (COVID-19) with well-defined antigens and a similar type I interferon response. METHODS RNA sequencing of neutrophils from patients with SLE (n=15) and healthy controls (n=12) was analysed for differential gene expression and modulated pathways. The same analyses were performed on a similar neutrophil dataset from patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection (n=30) and healthy controls (n=8). Next, we carried out comparative analyses to identify common and unique transcriptional changes between the two disease contexts, emphasising genes regulated in opposite directions. RESULTS We identified 372 differentially expressed genes in SLE neutrophils compared with healthy donor neutrophils (≥2 fold, p<0.05), 181 of which were concordant with transcriptional changes in SARS-CoV-2-infected individuals compared with their respective healthy controls. In contrast, 118 genes demonstrated statistically significant alterations exclusive to SLE, including 28 genes that were differentially expressed in opposite directions in the two diseases. CONCLUSIONS The substantial overlap between neutrophil responses in SLE and COVID-19 suggests that the unknown cause of SLE is functionally similar to a viral infection and drives a similar immune activation and type I interferon response. Conversely, the genes regulated in the opposite direction represent responses unique to SLE. These include tyrosylprotein sulfotransferase-1 and nucleic acid deaminases of the APOBEC family, which can catalyse cytosine-to-uridine editing of both RNA and DNA, and other RNA-modifying enzymes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rayan Najjar
- Department of Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA
| | - Noga Rogel
- Department of Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA
| | | | - Xiaoxing Wang
- Department of Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA
| | - Megan Tran
- Department of Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA
| | - Alison Bays
- Department of Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA
| | - Tomas Mustelin
- Department of Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA
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Lawlor MA, Ellison CE. Evolutionary dynamics between transposable elements and their host genomes: mechanisms of suppression and escape. Curr Opin Genet Dev 2023; 82:102092. [PMID: 37517354 PMCID: PMC10530431 DOI: 10.1016/j.gde.2023.102092] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/28/2023] [Revised: 06/27/2023] [Accepted: 07/02/2023] [Indexed: 08/01/2023]
Abstract
Transposable elements (TEs) are ubiquitous among eukaryotic species. Their evolutionary persistence is likely due to a combination of tolerogenic, evasive/antagonistic, and cooperative interactions with their host genomes. Here, we focus on metazoan species and review recent advances related to the harmful effects of TE insertions, including how epigenetic effects and TE-derived RNAs can damage host cells. We discuss new findings related to host pathways that silence TEs, such as the piRNA pathway and the APOBEC3 and Kruppel-associated box zinc finger gene families. Finally, we summarize novel strategies used by TEs to evade host silencing, including the Y chromosome as a permissive niche for TE mobilization and TE counterdefense strategies to block host silencing factors.
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