title: Expression of HERV-K proviruses in human leukocytes.
abstract: HERV-K is a 50-copy, human endogenous, class 1 retroviral element that contains some polycistrons with gag, pol, and env open reading frames. Although expression of HERV-K proviruses has been shown in cultured human cell lines, expression of these elements has not been shown in human blood leukocytes. Using both reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction and ribonuclease protection techniques, we show HERV-K pol gene expression in human blood leukocytes. Expression in blood leukocytes from 7 normal individuals was from a variety of different HERV-K proviruses, while restricted expression was observed in blood cells of 5 leukemia patients and 3 polycythemia vera patients. Evidence is presented suggesting that the restricted expression in leukemia blood cells is a result of gene regulation, not gene amplification.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neoplastic Diseases, Hahnemann University, Philadelphia, PA 19102-1192.
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Brodsky
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Foley
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Haines
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Johnston
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Cuddy
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Gillespie
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001483:Base Sequence; D015139:Blotting, Southern; D002460:Cell Line; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000097:blood / Q000235:genetics; D005260:Female; D005814:Genes, Viral; D015752:Genes, env; D015750:Genes, gag; D015751:Genes, pol; D006801:Humans; D015464:Leukemia, Myelogenous, Chronic, BCR-ABL Positive / Q000097:blood* / Q000235:genetics / Q000382:microbiology; D015470:Leukemia, Myeloid, Acute / Q000097:blood* / Q000235:genetics / Q000382:microbiology; D007962:Leukocytes / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000502:physiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009838:Oligodeoxyribonucleotides; D016366:Open Reading Frames; D011087:Polycythemia Vera / Q000097:blood* / Q000235:genetics / Q000382:microbiology; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods; D011533:Proviruses / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D012313:RNA / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D012190:Retroviridae / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D015678:Viral Structural Proteins / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D004279:DNA, Viral; D009838:Oligodeoxyribonucleotides; D015678:Viral Structural Proteins; D012313:RNA