Molecular analysis of endogenous retrovirus HRES-1: identification of frameshift mutations in region encoding putative 28-kDa autoantigen.
A possible involvement of HTLV-1-related endogenous sequence 1 (HRES-1) in autoimmune diseases has been recently reported. In primate cells, PCRs and RT-PCRs using specific primers reveal the presence and the transcription of gag-related sequences. However antisera generated against selected HRES-1 peptides failed to detect a 28-kDa protein deduced from the translated gag ORF and described previously. Such discordant results led us to perform DNA cloning and sequencing of LTR- and gag-related nucleotidic fragments. Repeated sequence analyses on distinct samples revealed frameshift mutations in the gag and LTR ORFs. Our sequence analyses detected a stop codon in the gag-related ORF, which is inconsistent with the expression of a 28-kDa protein. Instead of the two ORFs previously found, our gag-related region contained three ORFs. One of them demonstrated higher nucleotidic and peptidic homologies with the p19 gag of HTLV-I. However, the molecular analyses of our new sequence did not show evidence of potent translation capacities.
Lefranc
D
D
Department of Immunology-EA2686, Pôle Recherche, Place de Verdun, Lille Cedex, 59045, France. dilefranc@wanadoo.fr
Dubucquoi
S
S
Almeras
L
L
De Seze
J
J
Tourvieille
B
B
Dussart
P
P
Aubert
J P
JP
Vermersch
P
P
Prin
L
L
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001324:Autoantigens / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*; D001327:Autoimmune Diseases / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology* / Q000821:virology*; D001483:Base Sequence; D015415:Biomarkers; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D004247:DNA / Q000235:genetics; D017931:DNA Primers / Q000235:genetics; D020077:Endogenous Retroviruses / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology* / Q000472:pathogenicity; D016368:Frameshift Mutation; D015750:Genes, gag; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D008970:Molecular Weight; D016366:Open Reading Frames; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D012689:Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid; D020079:Terminal Repeat Sequences
D001324:Autoantigens; D015415:Biomarkers; D017931:DNA Primers; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D004247:DNA