Abstract
Long terminal repeats (LTRs) of the human endogenous retroviruses K family (HERV-K) have been found to affect expression of genes located nearby. It has been suggested that the HERV-K LTR elements contributed to the structural change in the genome and genetic variation connected to various diseases. We examined the HERV-K LTR elements in human cancer cells. Using genomic DNA from various cancer cells, we performed PCR amplification and identified forty-nine HERV-K LTR elements. Those LTR elements showed a high degree of sequence similarity with human-specific HERV-K LTR elements. A phylogenetic tree, obtained by the neighbor-joining method, revealed that twelve HERV-K LTR elements were closely related to human-specific HERV-K LTR elements. These elements proliferated recently and were detectable in many human cancer cell lines. These results suggest that HERV-K LTR could be implicated in a pathogenic role, although this phenomenon may not directly lead to human cancers. Further studies on the biological function and expression of HERV-K LTR elements in cancer cells are indicated.
Publication types
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Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
MeSH terms
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Cloning, Molecular
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Endogenous Retroviruses / classification
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Endogenous Retroviruses / genetics*
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Humans
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Molecular Sequence Data
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Phylogeny
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Terminal Repeat Sequences / genetics*
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Tumor Cells, Cultured
Associated data
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GENBANK/AB060002
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GENBANK/AB060003
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