Z-DNA-Containing Long Terminal Repeats of Human Endogenous Retrovirus Families Provide Alternative Promoters for Human Functional Genes

Transposable elements (TEs) account for approximately 45% of the human genome. TEs have proliferated randomly and integrated into functional genes during hominoid radiation. They appear as right-handed B-DNA double helices and slightly elongated left-handed Z-DNAs. Human endogenous retrovirus (HERV)...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Molecules and cells 2022, Vol.45 (8), p.522-530
Main Authors: Lee, Du Hyeong, Bae, Woo Hyeon, Ha, Hongseok, Park, Eun Gyung, Lee, Yun Ju, Kim, Woo Ryung, Kim, Heui-Soo
Format: Article
Language:Korean
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Transposable elements (TEs) account for approximately 45% of the human genome. TEs have proliferated randomly and integrated into functional genes during hominoid radiation. They appear as right-handed B-DNA double helices and slightly elongated left-handed Z-DNAs. Human endogenous retrovirus (HERV) families are widely distributed in human chromosomes at a ratio of 8%. They contain a 5'-long terminal repeat (LTR)-gag-pol-env-3'-LTR structure. LTRs contain the U3 enhancer and promoter region, transcribed R region, and U5 region. LTRs can influence host gene expression by acting as regulatory elements. In this review, we describe the alternative promoters derived from LTR elements that overlap Z-DNA by comparing Z-hunt and DeepZ data for human functional genes. We also present evidence showing the regulatory activity of LTR elements containing Z-DNA in GSDML. Taken together, the regulatory activity of LTR elements with Z-DNA allows us to understand gene function in relation to various human diseases.
ISSN:1016-8478
0219-1032