Abstract
LINE-1 Retroelements Get ZAPped!
Highlights
As further demonstration of this functional duality, two complementary papers in PLOS Genetics by Moldovan and Moran, and Goodier et al demonstrate that ZAP (Zinc finger Antiviral Protein, called ZAP-S), an interferon-stimulated genes (ISGs) initially identified as an antiviral factor, possesses LINE-1 restriction activity [6,7]
Since LINE-1 encodes only two proteins, it relies upon protein–protein and protein–RNA interactions with multiple host proteins to complete its retrotransposition cycle. Many of these interactions represent opportune targets for host factors to curb LINE-1 retrotransposition, and they provide the basis for two complementary screens for LINE-1 restriction factors that motivate the accompanying reports
It is possible that LINE-1 transcript recruitment to stress granules via ZAP leads to its eventual degradation in cytoplasmic P-bodies
Summary
One major mechanism of retroelement restriction occurs via proteins that target transcriptional silencing machinery to transposons, including LINE-1 elements [3]. Post-transcriptional restriction factors form a second layer of genome defense, targeting a variety of steps in the life cycle of LINE-1. As further demonstration of this functional duality, two complementary papers in PLOS Genetics by Moldovan and Moran, and Goodier et al demonstrate that ZAP (Zinc finger Antiviral Protein, called ZAP-S), an ISG initially identified as an antiviral factor, possesses LINE-1 restriction activity [6,7].
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