title: Identification and detection of a novel human endogenous retrovirus-related gene, and structural characterization of its related elements.
abstract: Up-regulation of human endogenous retroviruses (HERVs) is associated with many diseases, including cancer. In this study, an H family HERV (HERV-H)-related gene was identified and characterized. Its spliced transcript lacks protein-coding capacity and may belong to the emerging class of noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs). The 1.3-kb RNA consisting of four exons is transcribed from an Alu element upstream of a 5.0-kb structurally incomplete HERV-H element. RT-PCR and quantitative RT-PCR results indicated that expression of this HERV-related transcript was negatively associated with colon, stomach, and kidney cancers. Its expression was induced upon treatment with DNA methylation and histone deacetylation inhibitors. A BLAT search using long terminal repeats (LTRs) identified 50 other LTR homogenous HERV-H elements. Further analysis of these elements revealed that all are structurally incomplete and only five exert transcriptional activity. The results presented here recommend further investigation into a potentially functional HERV-H-related ncRNA.
authors.affiliation: Cancer Institute, Second Affiliated Hospital and Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Cancer Prevention and Intervention, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou China.
authors.forename: Qiaoyi
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.forename: Jiayi
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ding
authors.forename: Shu
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zheng