Department of Pathophysiology, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia.
Department of Reproductive Biology, Estonian University of Life Sciences, Tartu, Estonia.
Sci Rep. 2018 Mar 12;8(1):4358. doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-22734-7.
Human endogenous retrovirus (HERV) sequences make up at least 8% of the human genome. Transcripts originating from these loci as well as proteins encoded by them have been detected in various tissues. HERVs are believed to be implicated in autoimmune diseases, however the extent to which, has remained unclear. Differential expression studies have so far been limited to certain HERV subfamilies with conserved sequences. No studies have been published describing the genome-wide expression pattern of HERVs and repetitive elements in the context of psoriasis. In the present study, we analysed total RNA sequencing data from skin samples of 12 psoriasis patients and 12 healthy controls, which enabled us to describe the entire transcriptional landscape of repetitive elements. We report high levels of repetitive element expression in the skin of psoriasis patients as well as healthy controls. The majority of differentially expressed elements were downregulated in lesional and non-lesional skin, suggesting active HERV suppression in the pro-inflammatory environment of psoriatic skin. However, we also report upregulation of a small subset of HERVs previously described in the context of autoimmune diseases, such as members of the HERV-K and W families, with the potential to affect the immunopathogenesis of psoriasis.
人类内源性逆转录病毒 (HERV) 序列至少占人类基因组的 8%。从这些位置产生的转录本以及由它们编码的蛋白质已在各种组织中检测到。人们认为 HERV 与自身免疫性疾病有关，但程度尚不清楚。到目前为止，差异表达研究仅限于具有保守序列的某些 HERV 亚家族。目前还没有发表描述银屑病背景下 HERV 和重复元件全基因组表达模式的研究。在本研究中，我们分析了 12 名银屑病患者和 12 名健康对照者皮肤样本的总 RNA 测序数据，这使我们能够描述重复元件的整个转录景观。我们报告了银屑病患者和健康对照者皮肤中重复元件表达水平较高。大多数差异表达的元件在病变和非病变皮肤中下调，这表明在银屑病皮肤的促炎环境中 HERV 受到抑制。然而，我们还报告了一小部分 HERV 的上调，这些 HERV 先前在自身免疫性疾病的背景下得到描述，例如 HERV-K 和 W 家族的成员，它们有可能影响银屑病的免疫发病机制。
