title: The distribution and expression of HERV families in the human genome.
abstract: The families of human endogenous retroviruses (HERVs) are widely distributed in the human genome. Here we examined their distribution and expression. Approximately forty thousand HERV elements including truncated and solitary long terminal repeats (LTRs) were identified. These elements were most dense on chromosomes 4, 20, X, and Y. From an analysis of genomic stability during primate evolution, the 5 cent -LTR of the HERV genome (5 cent LTR - internal HERV - 3 cent LTR) appeared to be more often truncated than the 3 cent -LTR. ESTs derived from normal placenta, skeletal muscle, hypothalamus, and testis gave frequent matches to HERV elements. We present a classification of genes associated with HERV elements according to the hierarchical structure of gene ontology.
authors.affiliation: PBBRC, Interdisciplinary Program of Bioinformatics, Pusan National University, Busan 609-735, Korea.
authors.forename: Tae-Hyung
authors.initials: TH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Yeo-Jin
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Jeon
authors.forename: Joo-Mi
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Yi
authors.forename: Dae-Soo
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Jae-Won
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Huh
authors.forename: Cheol-Goo
authors.initials: CG
authors.lastname: Hur
authors.forename: Heui-Soo
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Kim
mesh_terms: D020077:Endogenous Retroviruses / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D020224:Expressed Sequence Tags; D015894:Genome, Human; D042822:Genomic Instability; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D005810:Multigene Family; D014018:Tissue Distribution