title: Disruption of the murine p53 gene by insertion of an endogenous retrovirus-like element (ETn) in a cell line from radiation-induced osteosarcoma.
abstract: The mammalian genome harbors a large number of endogenous retroviruses and retrovirus-like elements. Increasing evidence is found that such elements can be activated and act as insertional mutagens. The activation of endogenous retroviral elements can be induced by a variety of environmental factors including irradiation. We have observed the insertion of a murine endogenous retrovirus-like ETn element into intro 4 of the p53 gene in an osteosarcoma cell line derived from a radiation-induced osteosarcoma. The insertion resulted in a p53-ETn-p53 fusion mRNA, a novel form of p53 mutation. This is the first report on insertion of an endogenous retroviral element into the p53 tumor suppressor gene. The data suggest that activated endogenous retroviruses and retrovirus-like elements might pose an enhanced risk for individuals exposed to noxae, which activate endogenous retroviral elements.
authors.affiliation: GSF-Institut für Molekulare Virologie, Oberschleissheim, Germany.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Mitreiter
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Schmidt
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Luz
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Atkinson
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Höfler
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Erfle
authors.forename: P G
authors.initials: PG
authors.lastname: Strauss
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D004251:DNA Transposable Elements / Q000235:genetics*; D016158:Genes, p53 / Q000235:genetics* / Q000528:radiation effects; D051379:Mice; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016254:Mutagenesis, Insertional; D012516:Osteosarcoma / Q000209:etiology / Q000235:genetics*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012190:Retroviridae / Q000235:genetics*; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured
chemical_list: D004251:DNA Transposable Elements