Pro-Inflammatory Signaling Upregulates a Neurotoxic Conotoxin-Like Protein Encrypted Within Human Endogenous Retrovirus-K.

ABSTRACT: Motor neuron degeneration and spinal cord demyelination are hallmark pathological events in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). Endogenous retrovirus-K (ERVK) expression has an established association with ALS neuropathology, with murine modeling pointing to a role for the ERVK envelope (env) gene in disease processes. Here, we describe a novel viral protein cryptically encoded within the ERVK env transcript, which resembles two distinct cysteine-rich neurotoxic proteins: conotoxin proteins found in marine snails and the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) Tat protein. Consistent with Nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB)-induced retrotransposon expression, the ERVK conotoxin-like protein (CTXLP) is induced by inflammatory signaling. CTXLP is found in the nucleus, impacting innate i

SUBMITTER: Curzio DD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7407490 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature