• Genomics & Informatics
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• 제12권3호
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• pp.98-104
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• 2014

Approximately 45% of the human genome is comprised of transposable elements (TEs). Results from the Human Genome Project have emphasized the biological importance of TEs. Many studies have revealed that TEs are not simply "junk" DNA, but rather, they play various roles in processes, including genome evolution, gene expression regulation, genetic instability, and cancer disposition. The effects of TE insertion in the genome varies from negligible to disease conditions. For the past two decades, many studies have shown that TEs are the causative factors of various genetic disorders and cancer. TEs are a subject of interest worldwide, not only in terms of their clinical aspects but also in basic research, such as evolutionary tracking. Although active TEs contribute to genetic instability and disease states, non-long terminal repeat transposons are well studied, and their roles in these processes have been confirmed. In this review, we will give an overview of the importance of TEs in studying genome evolution and genetic instability, and we suggest that further in-depth studies on the mechanisms related to these phenomena will be useful for both evolutionary tracking and clinical diagnostics.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제18권6호
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• pp.1044-1049
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• 2008

In order to study functional nucleotides in prototype foamy virus (PFV) DNA on specific recognition by PFV integrase (IN), we designed chimeric U5 long terminal repeat (LTR) DNA substrates by exchanging comparative sequences between human immunodeficiency virus type-1 (HIV-1) and PFV U5 LTRs, and investigated the 3'-end processing reactivity using HIV-1 and PFV INs, respectively. HIV-1 IN recognized the nucleotides present in the fifth and sixth positions at the 3'-end of the substrates more specifically than any other nucleotides in the viral DNA. However, PFV IN recognized the eighth and ninth nucleotides as distinctively as the fifth and sixth nucleotides in the reactions. In addition, none of the nucleotides present in the twelfth, sixteenth, seventeenth, eighteenth, nineteenth, and twentieth positions were not differentially recognized by HIV-1 and PFV INs, respectively. Therefore, our results suggest that the functional nucleotides that are specifically recognized by its own IN in the PFV U5 LTR are different from those in the HIV-1 U5 LTR in aspects of the positions and nucleotide sequences. Furthermore, it is proposed that the functional nucleotides related to the specific recognition by retroviral INs are present inside ten nucleotides from the 3'-end of the U5 LTR.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• 제19권1호
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• pp.57-63
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• 2003

An insertion sequence identified as a solo long terminal repeat (LTR) of a new rice copia-like retrotransposon was detected in the ORE of the Pi-b gene from the rice cv. Nipponbare, and was designated as Osr1. Osr1 consists of a 6386 bp nucleotide sequence including 965 bp LTRs on both ends with an 82％ nucleotide sequence identity to the wheat Tarl retrotransposon on reverse transcriptase. Nucleotide divergence was noted among the individual LTRs, as well as the coding region of Osr1. Various restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) of LTR were detected in indica cultivars, whereas, only a few could be detected in the japonica cultivars. The population of Osr1 is lower in the wild-type rice compared with that in the domesticated cultivars. The insertion of LTR sequence in the h-b gene in the susceptible cultivar suggested that retro-tyansposon-mediated insertional mutation might play an important role in the resistance breakdown, as well as in the evolution of resistance genes in rice.

• Journal of Life Science
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• 제11권2호
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• pp.83-86
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• 2001

The long terminal repeat (LTR) elements of human endogenous retrovirus (HERV) have been found to be coexpressed with genes located nearby. It has been suggested that the LTR elements have contributed to the genetic variation of human genome connected to various diseases. Recently, HERV-W family was identified in the cerebrospinal fluids and brains of individuals with schizophrenia. Using genomic DNAs derived from schizophrenia, we performed PCR amplification and identified six HERV-W LTR elements. Those LTR elements showed a high degree of sequence similarity (87.7-99.5%) with HERV-W LTR (AF072500). Sequence analysis of the HERV-W LTR elements revealed that clone W-sch1 showed identical sequence with the AC003014 (PAC clone RP1-290B4) derived from human Xq23. Clone W-sch2 was closely related to the AC0072442 derived from human Y chromosome by phylogenetic analysis. Our data suggest that new HERV-W LTR elements in schizophrenia may be very useful for further studies to understand neuropsychiatric diseases.

• 생명과학회지
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• 제11권5호
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• pp.400-404
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• 2001

최근 새로운 인간 내생 레트로바이러스 패밀리(HERAV-S)가 인간의 X 염색체상에서 동정 되었다. 그 길이는 6.7kb 이며 LTR-gag-pol-env-LTR의 일반적인 레트로바이러스의 구조를 가졌다. PCR 방법과 염기서열분석을 통하여 인간 게놈 DNA에서 HERV-S LTR 패밀리를 동정하였다. 네 개의 LTR엘리먼트(HSL-1, HSL-5, HSL-10, HSL-11)가 동정 되었으며, 이들은 HERV-S LLR 패밀리는 영장류의 진화과정에서 진화적인 분기를 통해 주된 2개의 그룹으로 나뉘어졌다. 영장류에서 이러한 HERV-S LTR들의 연구가 이루어진다면 이들의 영장류 게놈 내의 삽입시기를 알 수 있고 또한 인류의 진화를 이해하는데 크게 이바지 할 것이다.

• 대한수의학회지
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• 제38권1호
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• pp.101-106
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• 1998

The present study attempted to apply polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to develop a rapid differential diagnosis among Marek's disease, reticuloendotheliosis and avian leukosis. The primers chosen to detect Marek's disease virus (MDV) flank the 132bp tandem direct repeat of the MDV genome. The primers selected for reticuloendotheliosis virus (REV) and avian leukosis virus (ALV) are based on proviral long terminal repeats of spleen necrosis virus and Rous-associated virus-2 genomes, respectively. The specific PCR products of MDV, REV and ALV were observed with each primer and the reaction was not cross-reacted among the viruses. MDV-specific DNA was also amplified from the MDV-induced lymphoma (MDCC-MSB1) but not from the REV-induced tumor and ALV-induced lymphoma (LSCC-1104B1). In addition, proviral DNA of REV from REV-induced tumor and proviral DNA of ALV from ALV-induced lymphoma were also amplified by REV-specific and ALV-specific PCRs, respectively. Therefore these three PCR methods may be used to rapidly differentiate among MDV, REV and ALV-associated tumors in diagnosis.

• BMB Reports
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• 제53권5호
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• pp.248-253
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• 2020

Gene expression in HIV-1 is regulated by the promoters in 5' long-terminal repeat (LTR) element, which contain multiple DNA regulatory elements that serve as binding sites for cellular transcription factors. YY1 could repress HIV-1 gene expression and latent infection. Here, however, we observed that virus production can be increased by YY1 over-expression and decreased under YY1 depleted condition by siRNA treatment. To identify functional domain(s) of YY1 activation, we constructed a number of YY1 truncated mutants. Our data show that full-length YY1 enhances the viral transcription both through U3 and U3RU5 promoters. Moreover, the C-terminal region (296-414 residues) of YY1 is responsible for the transcriptional upregulation, which could be enhanced further in the presence of the viral Tat protein. The central domain of YY1 (155-295 residues) does not affect LTR activity but has a negative effect on HIV-1 gene expression. Taken together, our study shows that YY1 could act as a transcriptional activator in HIV-1 replication, at least in the early stages of infection.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제11권2호
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• pp.234-241
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• 2001

The C-terminal 393 bp region of the human interleukin-16 (IL-16) gene was cloned and expressed in E. coli along with mammalian cell lines. Recombinant IL-16 expressed from E. coli was 22 kDa on SDS-PAGE and showed 260% of chemoattractant activity at a concentration of $0.1\;{\mu}g/ml$. HeLa, COS, and Neuro-2a cells were transduced by recombinant retrovirus vector pLNC/IL-16/IRES/TK and the intracellular and secreted amounts of IL-16 produced by HeLa/IL-16/TK, COS/IL-16/TK, and Neuro-2a/IL-16/TK cells were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). HeLa/IL-16/TK $(1{\times}10^5)$ and COS/IL-16/TK $(1{\times}10^5)$ cells secreted 36.1 and 13.3 ng of IL-16 for 48 h, respectively. Forty-nine ng and 86.4 ng of IL-16 remained in the cell lysates of HeLa/IL-16/TK and COS/IL-16/TK. Intracellular and secreted amounts of IL-16 from Neuro-2a/IL-16/TK $(5{\times}10^5)$ cells during 24 h cultivation were 50 ng and 3.3 ng, respectively. Also, HeLa and COS cells wee stably transfected with mammalian expression vector pCRIII/IL-16. Both culture media and cell lysates prepared from HeLa/IL-16 cells and COS/IL-16 cells showed chemoattractant activity ranging from 190% to 460% as compared to the control experiment. Expression of the herpes simplex virus thymidine kinase (HSV0tk) gene in pLNC/IL-16/ IRES/TK bicistronic retroviral expression vector was verified by performing a genciclovir (GCV) sensitivity assay. Finally, IL-16 repressed Tat-transactivated human immunodeficiency virus type 1 long terminal repeat (HIV-1 LTR) promoter activity.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제17권5호
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• pp.822-829
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• 2007

A gene coding for phosphoketolase, a key enzyme of carbohydrate catabolism in heterofermentative lactic acid bacteria(LAB), was cloned from a Lactobacillus paraplantarum C7 and expressed in Escherichia coli. The gene is 2,502 bp long and codes for a 788-amino-acids polypeptide with a molecular mass of 88.7 kDa. A Shine-Dalgarno sequence(aaggag) and an inverted-repeat terminator sequence are located upstream and downstream of the phosphoketolase gene, respectively. The gene exhibits an identity of >52% with phosphoketolases of other LAB. The phosphoketolase of Lb. paraplantarum C7(LBPK) contains several highly conserved phosphoketolase signature regions and typical thiamine pyrophosphate(TPP) binding sites, as reported for other TPP-dependent enzymes. The phosphoketolase gene was fused to a glutathione S-transferase(GST::LBPK) gene for purification. The GST::LBPK fusion protein was detected in the soluble fraction of a recombinant Escherichia coli BL21. The GST::LBPK fusion protein was purified with a yield of 4.32mg/400ml by GSTrap HP affinity column chromatography and analyzed by N-terminal sequencing. LBPK was obtained by factor Xa treatment of fusion protein and the final yield was 3.78mg/400ml. LBPK was examined for its N-terminal sequence and phosphoketolase activity. The $K_M\;and\;V_{max}$ values for fructose-6-phosphate were $5.08{\pm}0.057mM(mean{\pm}SD)$ and $499.21{\pm}4.33{\mu}mol/min/mg$, respectively, and the optimum temperature and pH for the production of acetyl phosphate were $45^{\circ}C$ and 7.0, respectively.

• Molecules and Cells
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• 제26권4호
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• pp.404-408
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• 2008

The genome of replication-competent BERV ${\gamma}4$ provirus, which is the most abundant ERV family in the bovine genome, was characterized in detail. The BERV ${\gamma}4$ genome showed that BERV ${\gamma}4$ harbors 8576 nucleotides and has the typical 5'-long terminal repeat (LTR)-gag-pro-pol-env-LTR-3' retroviral organization with a long leader region positioned before the gag open reading frame. Multiple sequences analysis showed that the nucleotide difference between 5' and 3' LTRs was 4.2% (mean value 0.042) in average, suggesting that the provirus formed at most 13.3 million years ago. Gag separated by a stop codon from pro-pol in the same reading frame, while env resides in another reading frame lacking of a functional surface domain. According to the current bovine genome sequence assembly, the full-length BERV ${\gamma}4$ provirus sequences were only found in the chromosomes 1, 2, 6, 10, 15, 23, 26, 28, X, and unassigned, although the partial sequences almost evenly distributed in the entire bovine genome. This is the first detailed study describing the genome structure of BERV ${\gamma}4$, the most abundant ERV family present in bovine genome. Combined with our recent reports on characterization of ERVs in bovine, this study will contribute to illuminate ERVs in the cattle of which no information was previously available.