title: Lack of correlation between HERV-K expression and HIV-1 viral load in plasma specimens.
abstract: HERV-K viral RNA has been reported in plasma specimens of HIV-1 infected individuals. Emerging data support the regulation and functional interaction between HERV-K and HIV-1, which warrant development of accurate HERV-K assays to evaluate HERV-K activation. In this study, we examined HERV-K RNA expression after careful removal of "contaminating" cellular DNA using DNase I. We found that DNase I digestion effectively reduced HERV-K RT-PCR positive signal. We also found that levels of HERV-K expression did not correlate with HIV-1 viral load. Our study is in agreement with the published studies on HERV-K activation in HIV-1 positive plasma specimens, and in addition, calls for careful removal of cellular DNA to accurately evaluate HERV-K RNA expression.
authors.affiliation: Molecular Genetic Technology Program, School of Health Sciences, University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Esqueda
authors.forename: Fangling
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Yuliana
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Moore
authors.forename: Zhen
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Gengming
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Patrick A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Lennon
authors.forename: Peter C
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.forename: Jianli
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Dong
mesh_terms: D017931:DNA Primers / Q000235:genetics; D004587:Electrophoresis, Agar Gel; D020077:Endogenous Retroviruses / Q000378:metabolism*; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000097:blood* / Q000821:virology; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000097:blood* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D019562:Viral Load
chemical_list: D017931:DNA Primers; D012367:RNA, Viral
keywords: DNase I digestion; HERV-K expression; HIV-1 viral load