title: CD14-mediated alterations in transcription and splicing of endogenous retroviruses after injury.
abstract: Increase in systemic levels of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) contributes to the pathogenesis of distant organ injury after burn. Stress signals elicited from burn influence transcriptional activities of mouse endogenous retroviruses (MuERVs) in various distant organs. The involvement of LPS pathways in the burn-mediated regulation of MuERVs in the spleen was investigated in this study. Spleen harbors substantial numbers of tissue macrophages, a key responder to LPS stimulation. Spleen tissues collected from CD14 (LPS receptor) knockout (KO) and wild type (WT) mice after burn were subjected to RT-PCR analysis of MuERV expression. There was a substantial induction of 2 bands and a marked downregulation of a band in CD14 KO mice compared to WT mice after burn. Sequence analysis of these CD14- and burn-dependent bands identified 3 new alternatively spliced and 2 defective env transcripts of MuERVs as well as novel splicing signals. Chromosomal loci of putative MuERVs sharing the unique U3 sequences of these transcripts were mapped by surveying the entire genome of C57BL/6J mice. In addition, coding potentials, transcriptional regulatory elements, and adjacent cellular genes of these putative MuERVs were analyzed. The results from these studies suggest that injury-triggered LPS/CD14 signaling events play roles in the transcriptional regulation of certain MuERVs carrying unique U3 promoter sequences.
authors.affiliation: Burn Research, Shriners Hospitals for Children Northern California and Department of Surgery, University of California at Davis, Sacramento, CA, USA.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Cho
authors.forename: T N
authors.initials: TN
authors.lastname: Pham
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Chamberlain
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Boonyaratanakornkit
authors.forename: D G
authors.initials: DG
authors.lastname: Greenhalgh
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D002056:Burns / Q000821:virology*; D020077:Endogenous Retroviruses / Q000235:genetics*; D005260:Female; D015967:Gene Expression Regulation, Viral; D018950:Lipopolysaccharide Receptors / Q000502:physiology*; D051379:Mice; D018345:Mice, Knockout; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016366:Open Reading Frames; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D012326:RNA Splicing; D013154:Spleen / Q000821:virology; D014158:Transcription, Genetic
chemical_list: D018950:Lipopolysaccharide Receptors