Mayer Jens, Ehlhardt Sandra, Seifert Markus, Sauter Marlies, Müller-Lantzsch Nikolaus, Mehraein Yasmin, Zang Klaus-Dieter, Meese Eckart
Department of Human Genetics, Medical Faculty, University of Saarland, 66421 Homburg/Saar, Germany.
Virology. 2004 Apr 25;322(1):190-8. doi: 10.1016/j.virol.2004.01.023.
The human endogenous retrovirus family HERV-K(HML-2) encodes the so-called Rec protein that displays functional similarities to the HIV(REV) protein. The number of proviruses producing Rec protein was hitherto unknown. We therefore analyzed the human genome sequence data and determined seven HERV-K(HML-2) proviruses potentially capable of producing Rec both on the mRNA and the protein level. We analyzed Rec mRNA expression in the Tera-1 cell line and in synovial tissue, and in the expressed sequence tag (EST) database. Diagnostic nucleotides assigned transcriptionally active and Rec-encoding proviruses to human chromosomes 6, 7, 11, and 12. Differently spliced mRNAs were also identified. The various active proviruses encode almost identical Rec proteins. Our study contributes to the understanding of the biology of HERV-K(HML-2) Rec protein. Our study further demonstrates that minor sequence differences among proviruses allow assigning HERV transcripts to particular proviral loci. Extended studies will eventually yield a more complete image of HERV transcription, regulation, and biological significance in diverse human tissues.
人类内源性逆转录病毒家族HERV-K(HML-2)编码所谓的Rec蛋白，该蛋白与HIV(REV)蛋白具有功能相似性。迄今为止，产生Rec蛋白的前病毒数量尚不清楚。因此，我们分析了人类基因组序列数据，并确定了7种HERV-K(HML-2)前病毒，它们在mRNA和蛋白质水平上都有可能产生Rec。我们分析了Tera-1细胞系、滑膜组织以及表达序列标签(EST)数据库中的Rec mRNA表达情况。诊断性核苷酸将转录活性且编码Rec的前病毒定位到人类染色体6、7、11和12上。还鉴定出了不同剪接的mRNA。各种活性前病毒编码几乎相同的Rec蛋白。我们的研究有助于理解HERV-K(HML-2) Rec蛋白的生物学特性。我们的研究进一步表明，前病毒之间的微小序列差异使得能够将HERV转录本定位到特定的前病毒位点。进一步的研究最终将揭示HERV在多种人类组织中的转录、调控及生物学意义的更完整图景。
