Widespread and tissue-specific expression of endogenous retroelements in human somatic tissues.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Endogenous retroelements (EREs) constitute about 42% of the human genome and have been implicated in common human diseases such as autoimmunity and cancer. The dominant paradigm holds that EREs are expressed in embryonic stem cells (ESCs) and germline cells but are repressed in differentiated somatic cells. Despite evidence that some EREs can be expressed at the RNA and protein levels in specific contexts, a system-level evaluation of their expression in human tissues is lacking.

Methods

Using RNA sequencing data, we analyzed ERE expression in 32 human tissues and cell types, including medullary thymic epithelial cells (mTECs). A tissue specificity index was computed to identify tissue-restricted ERE families. We also analyzed the transcriptome of mTECs in wild-ty

SUBMITTER: Larouche JD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7189544 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature