Human-specific antisense transcripts induced by the insertion of transposable element.
Antisense transcripts can influence the sense partner gene function by modifying the transcriptional and/or posttranscriptional regulation processes. Here, we report the identification of 13 cases of human-specific antisense transcripts induced by transposable element insertions from the analysis of primate genome alignment and human transcriptome data. The original sources of the insert included L1, Alu, SVA and human endogenous retrovirus (HERV). In the majority of the cases, insertion of a transposable element served as a promoter and drove transcription of the adjacent genomic segment, creating a novel antisense transcriptional unit (for examples, RNF144A, SYNE2, CAMCK4 and LSAMP). In the remaining cases, an existing antisense transcript was modified upon insertion; the insert supplied a promoter (ABCA9), an internal exon (LHFPL3 and DSG1) or a terminal exon (TEX11). We propose that creation of human-specific antisense transcripts may have altered the partner gene function and consequently may have played a role in the acquisition of various human-specific traits.
Department of Life Science (BK21 Program) and Research Center for Biomolecules and Biosystems, Chung-Ang University, Seoul 156-756, Korea.
Dong Seon
DS
Kim
Yoonsoo
Y
Hahn
D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D019295:Computational Biology / Q000379:methods; D004251:DNA Transposable Elements / Q000235:genetics*; D030561:Databases, Nucleic Acid; D005091:Exons / Q000235:genetics; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D015894:Genome, Human / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D008253:Macaca mulatta; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016254:Mutagenesis, Insertional / Q000379:methods*; D002679:Pan troglodytes; D016372:RNA, Antisense / Q000235:genetics*; D012689:Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid; D014158:Transcription, Genetic
D004251:DNA Transposable Elements; D016372:RNA, Antisense