Several families of repetitive sequences related to integrated retroviruses have been identified in the human genome. The largest of these families, the RTVL-H family, has close to 1000 members in addition to a similar number of solitary long terminal repeats (LTRs) dispersed on all chromosomes. Previous work has shown that the expression of genomic RTVL-H elements is driven by their LTRs and that some LTRs can promote expression of a reporter gene. These observations suggest that some endogenous RTVL-HLTRs may naturally regulate the transcription of adjacent cellular genes or that rearrangements involving these elements may cause aberrant gene expression. To investigate this possibility, we have used a differential screening strategy to identify chimeric cDNA clones derived from LTR-promoted transcripts. Here we report the identification and analysis of four such clones isolated from an NTera2D1 (teratocarcinoma) cDNA library. Two of the clones, AF-1 and AF-2, contain termination codons in all reading frames. Another clone, AF-4, contains LTR sequences linked in the genome to a CpG island. The fourth clone, AF-3, contains an 862-bp open reading frame representing part of a novel gene (CDC4L) with homology to the yeast cell division cycle gene CDC4. These findings indicate that RTVL-H elements may be involved in the regulation of diverse cellular transcripts in human cells.

• PMID: 1505956
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Journal Article | Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Authors

Feuchter AE, Freeman JD, Mager DL

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