Integrated Regulation of Class II Human Endogenous Retroviruses in a Breast Cancer Cell Line

Authors

Yingguang Liu, Liberty University College of Osteopathic MedicineFollow
Tam D. Nguyen, Liberty University College of Osteopathic MedicineFollow

Addresses of All Authors

306 Liberty View Lane, College of Osteopathic Medicine, Lynchburg, VA 24502

Author's Biography

Yingguang Liu holds a Bachelor of Medicine from Shandong Medical University, a Master of Medicine from Shanghai Medical University, and a Doctor of Philosophy from Ohio University. He was a professor of science in Maranatha Baptist University and is currently an associate professor of microbiology in Liberty University College of Osteopathic Medicine.

Tam Nguyen earned his BS in chemistry from the University of Notre Dame and is currently a second-year medical student at Liberty University College of Osteopathic Medicine.

Proposal

Endogenous retroviruses (ERVs) are still regarded as foreign invaders by most biologists. Because of structural and positional homology of ERVs in human and ape genomes, they have been considered molecular evidences of common ancestry. Using a breast cancer cell line, we analyzed the regulatory features of a group of human endogenous retroviruses (HERV-K), and found that they contain multiple sequence motifs subjecting them to regulation by sex hormones, a stem cell-specific transcription factor (OCT4), and DNA methylation. Mutation of the OCT4 motif abrogates their response to sex hormones, while methylation of a progesterone-response element enhances receptor-binding. We also found that solo LTRs of HERVK enable hormonal regulation of downstream cellular genes. The findings support the hypothesis that ERVs are integral parts of eukaryotic genomes and are designed to regulate interspersed genes, especially in reproduction and development.

Disciplines

Cell Biology | Genetics and Genomics | Virology

Keywords

Gene regulation, cancer, progesterone, DNA methylation, long terminal repeat

DOI

https://doi.org/10.15385/jpicc.2018.8.1.19

Print Reference

Pages 191-199

Disclaimer

DigitalCommons@Cedarville provides a publication platform for fully open access journals, which means that all articles are available on the Internet to all users immediately upon publication. However, the opinions and sentiments expressed by the authors of articles published in our journals do not necessarily indicate the endorsement or reflect the views of DigitalCommons@Cedarville, the Centennial Library, or Cedarville University and its employees. The authors are solely responsible for the content of their work. Please address questions to dc@cedarville.edu.

Recommended Citation

Liu, Y., and T.D. Nguyen. 2018. Integrated regulation of class II human endogenous retroviruses in a breast cancer cell line. In Proceedings of the Eighth International Conference on Creationism, ed. J.H. Whitmore, pp. 191–199. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: Creation Science Fellowship.