Analysis of 5' junctions of human LINE-1 and Alu retrotransposons suggests an alternative model for 5'-end attachment requiring microhomology-mediated end-joining.

ABSTRACT: Insertion of the human non-LTR retrotransposon LINE-1 (L1) into chromosomal DNA is thought to be initiated by a mechanism called target-primed reverse transcription (TPRT). This mechanism readily accounts for the attachment of the 3'-end of an L1 copy to the genomic target, but the subsequent integration steps leading to the attachment of the 5'-end to the chromosomal DNA are still cause for speculation. By applying bioinformatics to analyze the 5' junctions of recent L1 insertions in the human genome, we provide evidence that L1 uses at least two distinct mechanisms to link the 5'-end of the nascent L1 copy to its genomic target. While 5'-truncated L1 elements show a statistically significant preference for short patches of overlapping nucleotides between their target site and the point o

SUBMITTER: Zingler N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1142468 | biostudies-literature | 2005 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature