title: Divergent and dynamic activity of endogenous retroviruses in burn patients and their inflammatory potential.
abstract: Genes constitute ~3% of the human genome, whereas human endogenous retroviruses (HERVs) represent ~8%. We examined post-burn HERV expression in patients' blood cells, and the inflammatory potentials of the burn-associated HERVs were evaluated. Buffy coat cells, collected at various time points from 11 patients, were screened for the expression of eight HERV families, and we identified their divergent expression profiles depending on patient, HERV, and time point. The population of expressed HERV sequences was patient-specific, suggesting HERVs' inherent genomic polymorphisms and/or differential expression potentials depending on characteristics of patients and courses of injury response. Some HERVs were shared among the patients, while the others were divergent. Interestingly, one burn-associated HERV gag gene from a patient's genome induced IL-6, IL-1β, Ptgs-2, and iNOS. These findings demonstrate that injury stressors initiate divergent HERV responses depending on patient, HERV, and disease course and implicate HERVs as genetic elements contributing to polymorphic injury pathophysiology.
authors: Shriners Hospitals for Children Northern California, Sacramento, CA 95817, USA; Department of Surgery, University of California, Davis, Sacramento, CA 95817, USA.
authors: Kang-Hoon
authors: KH
authors: Lee
authors: Shriners Hospitals for Children Northern California, Sacramento, CA 95817, USA; Department of Surgery, University of California, Davis, Sacramento, CA 95817, USA.
authors: HyungChul
authors: H
authors: Rah
authors: Shriners Hospitals for Children Northern California, Sacramento, CA 95817, USA.
authors: Tajia
authors: T
authors: Green
authors: Shriners Hospitals for Children Northern California, Sacramento, CA 95817, USA; Department of Surgery, University of California, Davis, Sacramento, CA 95817, USA.
authors: Young-Kwan
authors: YK
authors: Lee
authors: Shriners Hospitals for Children Northern California, Sacramento, CA 95817, USA; Department of Surgery, University of California, Davis, Sacramento, CA 95817, USA.
authors: Debora
authors: D
authors: Lim
authors: Unit for Laboratory Animal Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-0614, USA.
authors: Jean
authors: J
authors: Nemzek
authors: Department of Surgery, Saint Joseph Mercy Health System, Ann Arbor, MI 48106, USA.
authors: Wendy
authors: W
authors: Wahl
authors: Shriners Hospitals for Children Northern California, Sacramento, CA 95817, USA; Department of Surgery, University of California, Davis, Sacramento, CA 95817, USA.
authors: David
authors: D
authors: Greenhalgh
authors: Shriners Hospitals for Children Northern California, Sacramento, CA 95817, USA; Department of Surgery, University of California, Davis, Sacramento, CA 95817, USA. Electronic address: kcho@ucdavis.edu.
authors: Kiho
authors: K
authors: Cho
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D058621:Blood Buffy Coat / Q000166:cytology / Q000821:virology; D002056:Burns / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D020077:Endogenous Retroviruses / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D005260:Female; D015967:Gene Expression Regulation, Viral; D014644:Genetic Variation; D015894:Genome, Human; D006801:Humans; D007249:Inflammation / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology* / Q000821:virology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis*
chemical_list: D014764:Viral Proteins
keywords: Burn patient; Divergent injury response; HERV polymorphism