Melo, Fernando Lucas de

Romano, Camila Malta

Zanotto, Paolo Marinho de Andrade

Biblioteca Digital da Produção Intelectual da Universidade de São Paulo (BDPI/USP)

  Universidade de São Paulo
 
2011
 
Preferential expression of human endogenous
retrovirus K (HERV-K/HML-2) type 1 in tumor
cells
 
 
Retrovirology. 2011 Jun 06;8(Suppl 1):A216
http://www.producao.usp.br/handle/BDPI/34833
 
Downloaded from: Biblioteca Digital da Produção Intelectual - BDPI, Universidade de São Paulo
Biblioteca Digital da Produção Intelectual - BDPI
Departamento de Microbiologia - ICB/BMM Artigos e Materiais de Revistas Científicas - ICB/BMM
MEETING ABSTRACT Open Access
Preferential expression of human endogenous
retrovirus K (HERV-K/HML-2) type 1 in tumor cells
Camila M Romano1*, Fernando L de Melo2, Paolo M de A Zanotto2
From 15th International Conference on Human Retroviruses: HTLV and Related Viruses
Leuven and Gembloux, Belgium. 5-8 June 2011
Human endogenous retroviruses of the K family (HERV-K)
are among the most recently integrated retroviruses in the
primate genome. HERV-K(HML-2) is classified in Type 1
that encodes a nonstructural protein Np9 and Type 2 that
encodes the accessory protein Rec. Both proteins have
been detected in tumors and transformed cell in different
levels, and there are evidences that they play a role in can-
cer development. HERV-K mRNA has also been detected
in normal tissues, but its expression is remarkably
enhanced in HIV-1 infected patients. Here, we performed
an in silico analysis to describe which HERV-K(HML-2)
proviruses contribute to transcripts detected in normal tis-
sues, tumor tissues and HIV-1 infected patients. Proviral
transcripts from distinct sources (downloaded from Gen-
Bank) were subjected to phylogenetic reconstructions
together with fifty-five complete HERV-K genomes. Over-
all, most of the proviruses that did match to transcripts
integrated in the host genome between 0 and 7.6 million
years ago. A positive relation between proviral activity and
integrity of the upstream promoter and GC boxes (putative
sites for Sp1 and Sp3 transcription factors) in the 5’ LTR
was also noticed. Interesting, while no significant relation
was observed between the type of the proviruses and the
ability to be transcribed in HIV carriers and normal tissues,
80% of the active proviruses from cancer tissues were type
1 HERV-K. Our results not only describe which proviruses
are more active in normal and pathological conditions but
also suggest a selective transactivation in tumor cells, sup-
porting the tissue specificity of HERV-K LTR activity.
Author details
1Department of Infectious and Parasitic Diseases, Institute of Tropical
Medicine, School of Medicine, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, SP,
05403-000, Brazil. 2Laboratory of Molecular Evolution and Bioinformatics,
Department of Microbiology, Biomedical Sciences Institute, University of São
Paulo, SP, 05508-900, Brazil.
Published: 6 June 2011
doi:10.1186/1742-4690-8-S1-A216
Cite this article as: Romano et al.: Preferential expression of human
endogenous retrovirus K (HERV-K/HML-2) type 1 in tumor cells.
Retrovirology 2011 8(Suppl 1):A216.
Submit your next manuscript to BioMed Central
and take full advantage of: 
• Convenient online submission
• Thorough peer review
• No space constraints or color figure charges
• Immediate publication on acceptance
• Inclusion in PubMed, CAS, Scopus and Google Scholar
• Research which is freely available for redistribution
Submit your manuscript at 
www.biomedcentral.com/submit
* Correspondence: cmromano@usp.br
1Department of Infectious and Parasitic Diseases, Institute of Tropical
Medicine, School of Medicine, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, SP,
05403-000, Brazil
Full list of author information is available at the end of the article
Romano et al. Retrovirology 2011, 8(Suppl 1):A216
http://www.retrovirology.com/content/8/S1/A216
© 2011 Romano et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons
Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in
any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.


Preferential expression of human endogenous retrovirus K (HERV-K/HML-2) type 1 in tumor cells

Romano, Camila M

de Melo, Fernando L

de A Zanotto, Paolo M

RCAAP - Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal

Universidade de São Paulo

Retrovirology

Camila M Romano

Fernando L de Melo

Paolo M de A Zanotto

Springer - Publisher Connector

MEETING ABSTRACT Open Access
Preferential expression of human endogenous
retrovirus K (HERV-K/HML-2) type 1 in tumor cells
Camila M Romano1*, Fernando L de Melo2, Paolo M de A Zanotto2
From 15th International Conference on Human Retroviruses: HTLV and Related Viruses
Leuven and Gembloux, Belgium. 5-8 June 2011
Human endogenous retroviruses of the K family (HERV-K)
are among the most recently integrated retroviruses in the
primate genome. HERV-K(HML-2) is classified in Type 1
that encodes a nonstructural protein Np9 and Type 2 that
encodes the accessory protein Rec. Both proteins have
been detected in tumors and transformed cell in different
levels, and there are evidences that they play a role in can-
cer development. HERV-K mRNA has also been detected
in normal tissues, but its expression is remarkably
enhanced in HIV-1 infected patients. Here, we performed
an in silico analysis to describe which HERV-K(HML-2)
proviruses contribute to transcripts detected in normal tis-
sues, tumor tissues and HIV-1 infected patients. Proviral
transcripts from distinct sources (downloaded from Gen-
Bank) were subjected to phylogenetic reconstructions
together with fifty-five complete HERV-K genomes. Over-
all, most of the proviruses that did match to transcripts
integrated in the host genome between 0 and 7.6 million
years ago. A positive relation between proviral activity and
integrity of the upstream promoter and GC boxes (putative
sites for Sp1 and Sp3 transcription factors) in the 5’ LTR
was also noticed. Interesting, while no significant relation
was observed between the type of the proviruses and the
ability to be transcribed in HIV carriers and normal tissues,
80% of the active proviruses from cancer tissues were type
1 HERV-K. Our results not only describe which proviruses
are more active in normal and pathological conditions but
also suggest a selective transactivation in tumor cells, sup-
porting the tissue specificity of HERV-K LTR activity.
Author details
1Department of Infectious and Parasitic Diseases, Institute of Tropical
Medicine, School of Medicine, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, SP,
05403-000, Brazil. 2Laboratory of Molecular Evolution and Bioinformatics,
Department of Microbiology, Biomedical Sciences Institute, University of São
Paulo, SP, 05508-900, Brazil.
Published: 6 June 2011
doi:10.1186/1742-4690-8-S1-A216
Cite this article as: Romano et al.: Preferential expression of human
endogenous retrovirus K (HERV-K/HML-2) type 1 in tumor cells.
Retrovirology 2011 8(Suppl 1):A216.
Submit your next manuscript to BioMed Central
and take full advantage of: 
• Convenient online submission
• Thorough peer review
• No space constraints or color figure charges
• Immediate publication on acceptance
• Inclusion in PubMed, CAS, Scopus and Google Scholar
• Research which is freely available for redistribution
Submit your manuscript at 
www.biomedcentral.com/submit
* Correspondence: cmromano@usp.br
1Department of Infectious and Parasitic Diseases, Institute of Tropical
Medicine, School of Medicine, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, SP,
05403-000, Brazil
Full list of author information is available at the end of the article
Romano et al. Retrovirology 2011, 8(Suppl 1):A216
http://www.retrovirology.com/content/8/S1/A216
© 2011 Romano et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons
Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in
any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.


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Preferential expression of human endogenous retrovirus K (HERV-K/HML-2) type 1 in tumor cells

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RCAAP - Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal

Springer - Publisher Connector

Springer - Publisher Connector

RCAAP - Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal