| First Author | Kuroki R | Year | 2020 |
| Journal | Front Genet | Volume | 11 |
| Pages | 519206 | PubMed ID | 33193604 |
| Mgi Jnum | J:308311 | Mgi Id | MGI:6728932 |
| Doi | 10.3389/fgene.2020.519206 | Citation | Kuroki R, et al. (2020) Establishment of Quantitative PCR Assays for Active Long Interspersed Nuclear Element-1 Subfamilies in Mice and Applications to the Analysis of Aging-Associated Retrotransposition. Front Genet 11:519206 |
| abstractText | The retrotransposon long interspersed nuclear element-1 (LINE-1) can autonomously increase its copy number within a host genome through the retrotransposition process. LINE-1 is active in the germline and in neural progenitor cells, and its somatic retrotransposition activity has a broad impact on neural development and susceptibility to neuropsychiatric disorders. The method to quantify the genomic copy number of LINE-1 would be important in unraveling the role of retrotransposition, especially in the brain. However, because of the species-specific evolution of LINE-1 sequences, methods for quantifying the copy number should be independently developed. Here, we developed a quantitative PCR (qPCR) assay to measure the copy number of active LINE-1 subfamilies in mice. Using the assay, we investigated aging-associated alterations of LINE-1 copy number in several brain regions in wild-type mice and Polg(+/D257A) mice as a model for accelerated aging. We found that aged Polg(+/D257A) mice showed higher levels of the type GfII LINE-1 in the basal ganglia than the wild-type mice did, highlighting the importance of assays that focus on an individual active LINE-1 subfamily. |
