Endogenous human retrovirus-K is not increased in the affected tissues of Japanese ALS patients

Tomohiko Ishihara; Akihide Koyama; Yuya Hatano; Ryoko Takeuchi; Yuka Koike; Taisuke Kato; Mari Tada; Akiyoshi Kakita; Osamu Onodera

doi:10.1016/j.neures.2022.01.009

Endogenous human retrovirus-K is not increased in the affected tissues of Japanese ALS patients

Neurosci Res. 2022 May:178:78-82. doi: 10.1016/j.neures.2022.01.009. Epub 2022 Feb 2.

Authors

Tomohiko Ishihara¹, Akihide Koyama², Yuya Hatano³, Ryoko Takeuchi⁴, Yuka Koike³, Taisuke Kato⁵, Mari Tada⁴, Akiyoshi Kakita⁴, Osamu Onodera⁶

Affiliations

¹ Department of Neurology, Clinical Neuroscience Branch, Brain Research Institute, Niigata University, Niigata, Japan; Department of Molecular Neuroscience, Resource Branch for Brain Disease Research, Center for Bioresource-based Research, Brain Research Institute, Niigata University, Niigata, Japan. Electronic address: ishihara@bri.niigata-u.ac.jp.
² Division of Legal Medicine, Graduate School of Medicine and Dental Science, Niigata University, Niigata, Japan.
³ Department of Neurology, Clinical Neuroscience Branch, Brain Research Institute, Niigata University, Niigata, Japan.
⁴ Department of Pathology, Brain Research Institute, Niigata University, Niigata, Japan.
⁵ Department of System Pathology for Neurological Disorders, Brain Science Branch, Brain Research Institute, Niigata University, Niigata, Japan.
⁶ Department of Neurology, Clinical Neuroscience Branch, Brain Research Institute, Niigata University, Niigata, Japan; Department of Molecular Neuroscience, Resource Branch for Brain Disease Research, Center for Bioresource-based Research, Brain Research Institute, Niigata University, Niigata, Japan.

PMID: 35122916
DOI: 10.1016/j.neures.2022.01.009

Abstract

Activation of human endogenous retrovirus-K (HERV-K) is one of the proposed risk factors for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The HERV-K envelope protein has been reported to show neurotoxicity, and development of therapy with reverse transcriptase inhibitors is being investigated. On the other hand, some reports have failed to show HERV-K activation in ALS. In this study, we analyzed the expression of HERV-K mRNA in the motor cortex and spinal cord of 15 Japanese patients with sporadic ALS and 19 controls using reverse transcriptase droplet digital PCR. This revealed no significant increase of HERV-K expression in ALS-affected tissues, suggesting that the association between ALS and HERV-K remains questionable.

Keywords: ALS; Droplet digital PCR; HERV-K; mRNA expression.

MeSH terms

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis* / genetics
Endogenous Retroviruses* / genetics
Humans
Japan
Motor Cortex*
RNA, Messenger

Substances

RNA, Messenger