The solitary long terminal repeats of ERV-9 endogenous retrovirus are conserved during primate evolution and possess enhancer activities in embryonic and hematopoietic cells.

ABSTRACT: The solitary long terminal repeats (LTRs) of ERV-9 endogenous retrovirus contain the U3, R, and U5 regions but no internal viral genes. They are middle repetitive DNAs present at 2,000 to 4,000 copies in primate genomes. Sequence analyses of the 5" boundary area of the erythroid beta-globin locus control region (beta-LCR) and the intron of the embryonic axin gene show that a solitary ERV-9 LTR has been stably integrated in the respective loci for at least 15 million years in the higher primates from orangutan to human. Functional studies utilizing the green fluorescent protein (GFP) gene as the reporter in transfection experiments show that the U3 region of the LTRs possesses strong enhancer activity in embryonic cells of widely different tissue origins and in adult cells of blood lineages

SUBMITTER: Ling J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC153808 | biostudies-literature | 2002 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature