Open AccessIdentification of a post-transcriptional regulatory element in the human endogenous retroviral syncytin-1
Author(s) -
K. Kitao,
Takamasa Tanikaga,
Takayuki Miyazawa
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
journal of general virology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.55
H-Index - 167
eISSN - 1465-2099
pISSN - 0022-1317
DOI - 10.1099/jgv.0.001238
Subject(s) - biology , gene , retrovirus , untranslated region , endogenous retrovirus , post transcriptional regulation , regulatory sequence , reporter gene , gene expression , genetics , regulation of gene expression , three prime untranslated region , endogeny , transcriptional regulation , nuclear export signal , rna , virology , genome , endocrinology
Retroviral transcripts have cis-acting elements that interact with host and viral proteins to enable efficient nuclear export and/or translation; however, it is poorly understood whether the transcripts of human endogenous retroviral genes retain such elements. Here, we show that human syncytin-1, which is derived from human endogenous retrovirus W, requires a 3' untranslated region (3'UTR) for efficient gene expression and retains a post-transcriptional regulatory element (named SPRE). The insertion of SPRE markedly increased a reporter gene (human immunodeficiency virus type 1 Gag) expression without affecting the amounts of nuclear or cytoplasmic transcript. Deletion analysis identified a required sequence for SPRE activity, and the prediction of the RNA secondary structure demonstrated a common secondary structure found among active SPRE sequences. Another human syncytin, syncytin-2, also requires a 3'UTR for efficient gene expression. These data provide insights into post-transcriptional regulation in endogenous retroviral gene expression.