title: The interleukin-6 gene locus seems to be a preferred target site for retrotransposon integration.
abstract: Recently, we have observed the insertion of a retrotransposon into the interleukin-6 (Il-6) locus of a mouse somatic cell line. Here we report the characterization of Il-6 genomic regions from both mouse and rat. Restriction site analysis, DNA sequence analysis, and computer-assisted search revealed eight retrotransposon-like elements distributed over a 25 kilobase (kb) mouse Il-6 region. In the rat, five different retrotransposons have been identified within a 17 kb Il-6 region. The retrotransposons belong to the LINE-, Alu I or Alu II families, or to a rat specific class of retrotransposons. Some of the retrotransposons exhibit characteristic features such as target site duplication and a poly A-tract. Remarkably, several retrotransposons map to different chromosomal locations in the mouse and rat. A genealogical tree of mouse, rat, and human Il-6 loci demonstrates a series of retrotranspositions that recently occurred in evolution. These results suggest that the Il-6 locus serves as a preferred target site for retrotransposon integration during evolution.
authors.affiliation: Institut für Immunologie, Freie Universität Berlin, Federal Republic of Germany.
authors.forename: Z H
authors.initials: ZH
authors.lastname: Qin
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Schuller
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Richter
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Diamantstein
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Blankenstein
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D002874:Chromosome Mapping; D004251:DNA Transposable Elements; D015321:Gene Rearrangement; D006801:Humans; D015850:Interleukin-6 / Q000235:genetics*; D051379:Mice; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D051381:Rats
chemical_list: D004251:DNA Transposable Elements; D015850:Interleukin-6