title: Identification of a group of Mus dunni endogenous virus-like endogenous retroviruses from the C57BL/6J mouse genome: proviral genomes, strain distribution, expression characteristics, and genomic integration profile.
abstract: About 10 % of the mouse genome is occupied by sequences associated with endogenous retroviruses (ERVs). However, a comprehensive profile of the mouse ERVs and related elements has not been established yet. In this study, we identified a group of ERVs from the mouse genome and characterized their biological properties. Using a custom ERV mining protocol, 191 ERVs (159 loci reported previously and 32 new loci), tentatively named Mus dunni endogenous virus (MDEV)-like ERVs (MDL-ERVs), were mapped on the C57BL/6J mouse genome. Seven of them retained putative full coding potentials for three retroviral polypeptides (gag, pol, and env). Among the 57 mouse strains examined, all but the Mus pahari/Ei strain had PCR amplicons corresponding to a conserved MDL-ERV region. Interestingly, the Mus caroli/EiJ's amplicon was somewhat larger than the others, coinciding with a substantial phylogenetic distance between the MDL-ERV populations of M. caroli/EiJ and C57BL/6J strains. MDL-ERVs were highly expressed in the lung, spleen, and thymus of C57BL/6J mice compared to the brain, heart, kidney, and liver. Seven MDL-ERVs were mapped in the introns of six annotated genes. Of interest, some MDL-ERVs were mapped periodically on three clusters in chromosome X. The finding that these MDL-ERVs were one of several types of retroelements, which form mosaic-repeat units of tandem arrays, suggests that the formation of the mosaic-repeat unit preceded the tandem arrangement event. Further studies are warranted to understand the biological roles of MDL-ERVs in both normal and pathologic conditions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, University of California, Davis and Shriners Hospitals for Children Northern California, 2425 Stockton Blvd., Sacramento, CA 95817, USA.
authors.forename: Kang-Hoon
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Ri-Na
authors.initials: RN
authors.lastname: You
authors.forename: David G
authors.initials: DG
authors.lastname: Greenhalgh
authors.forename: Kiho
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Cho
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000821:virology; D002874:Chromosome Mapping; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D020077:Endogenous Retroviruses / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D017930:Genes, Reporter; D015752:Genes, env; D015750:Genes, gag; D015751:Genes, pol; D056426:Genetic Loci; D016678:Genome / Q000235:genetics*; D006321:Heart / Q000821:virology; D007438:Introns; D007668:Kidney / Q000821:virology; D008099:Liver / Q000821:virology; D008168:Lung / Q000821:virology; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D010802:Phylogeny; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D012313:RNA / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D013154:Spleen / Q000821:virology; D013950:Thymus Gland / Q000821:virology; D014158:Transcription, Genetic
chemical_list: D012313:RNA