This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: GR-2169Rv1 12/3/391    most recent Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Pavlícek, A. Articles by Hejnar, J. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Pavlícek, A. Articles by Hejnar, J. Social Bookmarking                   What's this?

Vol. 12, Issue 3, 391-399, March 2002

LETTER
Processed Pseudogenes of Human Endogenous Retroviruses Generated by LINEs: Their Integration, Stability, and Distribution

Adam Pavlíek,^1,2 Jan Paes,^1,3 Daniel Elleder,¹ and Jií Hejnar^1,4

¹ Institute of Molecular Genetics, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Prague 6, CZ-16637, Czech Republic; ² Laboratoire de Génétique Moléculaire, Institut Jacques Monod, 75005 Paris, France; ³ Center for Integrated Genomics, Prague 6, CZ-16637, Czech Republic

We report here the presence of numerous processed pseudogenes derived from the W family of endogenous retroviruses in the human genome. These pseudogenes are structurally colinear with the retroviral mRNA followed by a poly(A) tail. Our analysis of insertion sites of HERV-W processed pseudogenes shows a strong preference for the insertion motif of long interspersed nuclear element (LINE) retrotransposons. The genomic distribution, stability during evolution, and frequent truncations at the 5' end resemble those of the pseudogenes generated by LINEs. We therefore suggest that HERV-W processed pseudogenes arose by multiple and independent LINE-mediated retrotransposition of retroviral mRNA. These data document that the majority of HERV-W copies are actually nontranscribed promoterless pseudogenes. The current search for HERV-Ws associated with several human diseases should concentrate on a small subset of transcriptionally competent elements.

[Online supplementary material available at http://www.genome.org]

---

⁴ Corresponding author.

---

12:391-399 ©2002 by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press  ISSN 1088-9051/02 $5.00

CiteULike

Connotea

Del.icio.us

Digg

Reddit

Technorati

This article has been cited by other articles:

				C. Voisset, R. A. Weiss, and D. J. Griffiths Human RNA "Rumor" Viruses: the Search for Novel Human Retroviruses in Chronic Disease Microbiol. Mol. Biol. Rev., March 1, 2008; 72(1): 157 - 196. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				G. O. Sperber, T. Airola, P. Jern, and J. Blomberg Automated recognition of retroviral sequences in genomic data RetroTector(C) Nucleic Acids Res., August 1, 2007; 35(15): 4964 - 4976. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				V. Cheynet, A. Ruggieri, G. Oriol, J.-L. Blond, B. Boson, L. Vachot, B. Verrier, F.-L. Cosset, and F. Mallet Synthesis, Assembly, and Processing of the Env ERVWE1/Syncytin Human Endogenous Retroviral Envelope J. Virol., May 1, 2005; 79(9): 5585 - 5593. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				R. Belshaw, A. Katzourakis, J. Paces, A. Burt, and M. Tristem High Copy Number in Human Endogenous Retrovirus Families is Associated with Copying Mechanisms in Addition to Reinfection Mol. Biol. Evol., April 1, 2005; 22(4): 814 - 817. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				S. Prudhomme, G. Oriol, and F. Mallet A Retroviral Promoter and a Cellular Enhancer Define a Bipartite Element Which Controls env ERVWE1 Placental Expression J. Virol., November 15, 2004; 78(22): 12157 - 12168. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				L. Lavie, E. Maldener, B. Brouha, E. U. Meese, and J. Mayer The human L1 promoter: Variable transcription initiation sites and a major impact of upstream flanking sequence on promoter activity Genome Res., November 1, 2004; 14(11): 2253 - 2260. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				B. Bonnaud, O. Bouton, G. Oriol, V. Cheynet, L. Duret, and F. Mallet Evidence of Selection on the Domesticated ERVWE1 env Retroviral Element Involved in Placentation Mol. Biol. Evol., October 1, 2004; 21(10): 1895 - 1901. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				L. Lavie, P. Medstrand, W. Schempp, E. Meese, and J. Mayer Human Endogenous Retrovirus Family HERV-K(HML-5): Status, Evolution, and Reconstruction of an Ancient Betaretrovirus in the Human Genome J. Virol., August 15, 2004; 78(16): 8788 - 8798. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				F. Mallet, O. Bouton, S. Prudhomme, V. Cheynet, G. Oriol, B. Bonnaud, G. Lucotte, L. Duret, and B. Mandrand The endogenous retroviral locus ERVWE1 is a bona fide gene involved in hominoid placental physiology PNAS, February 10, 2004; 101(6): 1731 - 1736. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				D. Lavillette, M. Marin, A. Ruggieri, F. Mallet, F.-L. Cosset, and D. Kabat The Envelope Glycoprotein of Human Endogenous Retrovirus Type W Uses a Divergent Family of Amino Acid Transporters/Cell Surface Receptors J. Virol., June 5, 2002; 76(13): 6442 - 6452. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]