Isolation and phylogenetic analysis of HERV-K long terminal repeat cDNA in cancer cells

AIDS Res Hum Retroviruses. 2001 Jul 1;17(10):987-90. doi: 10.1089/088922201750290113.

Abstract

Long terminal repeat (LTR) elements of human endogenous retrovirus (HERV-K) may have contributed to disease-associated structural change or genetic variation in the human genome. The LTR elements have been found to be coexpressed with sequences of closely located genes. We identified seven HERV-K LTR elements from mRNA of human cancer cells (HepG2, MCF7, and SiHa), using the RT-PCR approach. Four of them are closely related to the human-specific HERV-K LTR elements with a high degree of sequence homology in a neighbor-joining phylogenetic tree. The data suggest that recently proliferated HERV-K LTR elements are expressed actively in various cancer cells. These HERV-K LTR elements deserve further investigation as potential leads in the treatment of human cancer.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Base Sequence
  • DNA, Complementary / chemistry
  • DNA, Complementary / genetics*
  • Endogenous Retroviruses / classification*
  • Endogenous Retroviruses / genetics
  • Endogenous Retroviruses / isolation & purification
  • Humans
  • Neoplasms / genetics*
  • Neoplasms / virology
  • Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis
  • Phylogeny
  • RNA, Messenger / genetics*
  • Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
  • Sequence Homology
  • Terminal Repeat Sequences / genetics*
  • Tumor Cells, Cultured

Substances

  • DNA, Complementary
  • RNA, Messenger