| First Author | Perincheri S | Year | 2008 |
| Journal | Mamm Genome | Volume | 19 |
| Issue | 1 | Pages | 26-31 |
| PubMed ID | 18066620 | Mgi Jnum | J:157062 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:4429794 | Doi | 10.1007/s00335-007-9077-6 |
| Citation | Perincheri S, et al. (2008) Characterization of the ETnII-alpha endogenous retroviral element in the BALB/cJ Zhx2 ( Afr1 ) allele. Mamm Genome 19(1):26-31 |
| abstractText | Integration of mouse endogenous retroviral (MERV) elements is responsible for an estimated 10% of spontaneous mutations that have been characterized in the laboratory mouse. We recently identified a MERV integration in the first intron of the Zinc fingers and homeoboxes 2 (Zhx2) gene in BALB/cJ mice, resulting in reduced Zhx2 expression. This integration is found in BALB/cJ but not in other BALB/c substrains, indicating that it occurred after these substrains separated in the late 1930s. We have characterized this MERV element and show here that it belongs to the ETnII-alpha class of elements. Our analysis reveals that the Zhx2 ETn element lacks a 69-bp sequence compared to most other ETn elements which may be due to recombination between two identical 13-bp elements. Three mature Zhx2 transcripts are found in the liver of BALB/cJ mice. The major transcript is spliced from Zhx2 exon 1 to the 5' ETn LTR and is polyadenylated at the 3' LTR. Of the two less abundant transcripts, one is identical to the wild-type transcript, whereas the second contains 183 bp of ETn sequence spliced between Zhx2 exons 1 and 2. We have also sequenced and analyzed products from the fas ( lpr ) ETn found in MRL/lpr mice and show that it belongs to the ETnII-beta class of elements. |
