Comprehensive analysis of human endogenous retrovirus group HERV-W locus transcription in multiple sclerosis brain lesions by high-throughput amplicon sequencing.

ABSTRACT: Human endogenous retroviruses (HERVs) of the HERV-W group comprise hundreds of loci in the human genome. Deregulated HERV-W expression and HERV-W locus ERVWE1-encoded Syncytin-1 protein have been implicated in the pathogenesis of multiple sclerosis (MS). However, the actual transcription of HERV-W loci in the MS context has not been comprehensively analyzed. We investigated transcription of HERV-W in MS brain lesions and white matter brain tissue from healthy controls by employing next-generation amplicon sequencing of HERV-W env-specific reverse transcriptase (RT) PCR products, thus revealing transcribed HERV-W loci and the relative transcript levels of those loci. We identified more than 100 HERV-W loci that were transcribed in the human brain, with a limited number of loci being predomi

SUBMITTER: Schmitt K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3838257 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature