Interplay between ovine bone marrow stromal cell antigen 2/tetherin and endogenous retroviruses.

ABSTRACT: Endogenous betaretroviruses (enJSRVs) of sheep are expressed abundantly in the female reproductive tract and play a crucial role in conceptus development and placental morphogenesis. Interestingly, the colonization of the sheep genome by enJSRVs is likely still ongoing. During early pregnancy, enJSRV expression correlates with the production of tau interferon (IFNT), a type I IFN, by the developing conceptus. IFNT is the pregnancy recognition signal in ruminants and possesses potent antiviral activity. In this study, we show that IFNT induces the expression of bone marrow stromal cell antigen 2 (BST2) (also termed CD317/tetherin) both in vitro and in vivo. The BST2 gene is duplicated in ruminants. Transfection assays found that ovine BST2 proteins (oBST2A and oBST2B) block release of viral

SUBMITTER: Arnaud F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2863748 | biostudies-literature | 2010 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature