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L1 retrotransposons, cancer stem cells and oncogenesis
Author(s) -
Carreira Patricia E.,
Richardson Sandra R.,
Faulkner Geoffrey J.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
the febs journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.981
H-Index - 204
eISSN - 1742-4658
pISSN - 1742-464X
DOI - 10.1111/febs.12601
Subject(s) - retrotransposon , insertional mutagenesis , carcinogenesis , biology , somatic cell , genetics , mutagenesis , gene , genome , mobile genetic elements , cancer , mutation , transposable element
Retrotransposons have played a central role in human genome evolution. The accumulation of heritable L1, Alu and SVA retrotransposon insertions continues to generate structural variation within and between populations, and can result in spontaneous genetic disease. Recent works have reported somatic L1 retrotransposition in tumours, which in some cases may contribute to oncogenesis. Intriguingly, L1 mobilization appears to occur almost exclusively in cancers of epithelial cell origin. In this review, we discuss how L1 retrotransposition could potentially trigger neoplastic transformation, based on the established correlation between L1 activity and cellular plasticity, and the proven capacity of L1‐mediated insertional mutagenesis to decisively alter gene expression and functional output.