LINE-1 Insertion Research Articles

A Retroelement Modifies Pre-mRNA Splicing: THE MURINE Glrbspa ALLELE IS A SPLICING SIGNAL POLYMORPHISM AMPLIFIED BY LONG INTERSPERSED NUCLEAR ELEMENT INSERTION

The glycine receptor-deficient mutant mouse spastic carries a full-length long interspersed nuclear element (LINE1) retrotransposon in intron 6 of the glycine receptor β subunit gene, Glrb(spa). The mutation arose in the C57BL/6J strain and is associated with skipping of exon 6 or a combination of the exons 5 and 6, thus resulting in a translational frameshift within the coding regions of the GlyR β subunit. The effect of the Glrb(spa) LINE1 insertion on pre-mRNA splicing was studied using a minigene approach. Sequence comparison as well as motif prediction and mutational analysis revealed that in addition to the LINE1 insertion the inactivation of an exonic splicing enhancer (ESE) within exon 6 is required for skipping of exon 6. Reconstitution of the ESE by substitution of a single residue was sufficient to prevent exon skipping. In addition to the ESE, two regions within the 5' and 3' UTR of the LINE1 were shown to be critical determinants for exon skipping, indicating that LINE1 acts as efficient modifier of subtle endogenous splicing phenotypes. Thus, the spastic allele of the murine glycine receptor β subunit gene is a two-hit mutation, where the hypomorphic alteration in an ESE is amplified by the insertion of a LINE1 element in the adjacent intron. Conversely, the LINE1 effect on splicing may be modulated by individual polymorphisms, depending on the insertional environment within the host genome.

Decreased Rate of β-GlobinL1 Allele Transcription Due to Intronic LINE-1 Insertion In the β-Globin gene Is Associated with β-globinL1 Promoter and Enhancer Hypermethylation Which Is Not Reverted by Decitabine

AbstractAbstract 2073We have previously described a unique etiology of β-thalassemia due retrotransposon LINE-1 (L1) insertion into the intron-2 of the β-globin gene in a mother and daughter of Ukrainian descent who exhibited typical laboratory features of β-thalassemia trait (1, 2). The affected β-globinL1 gene generated roughly 10–15% of the total β−globin message (1). In order to unravel how the intronic insertion of transposable element attenuates the β-globin expression, interspecific hybrids of the propositus′ lymphocytes and mouse erythroleukemia (MEL) cells were generated (laboratory of Dr. T. Papayannopoulou, Seattle, WA) and used for expression studies. The total RNA from differently treated (emetine, 5-aza-2′-deoxycytidine (Sigma)) in vitro cultured cell hybrids were isolated and β-globin transcripts were analyzed by Real-Time qPCR with gene-specific primers. Nuclei from hybrid MEL cells were isolated to performed nuclear run-on assay. Bisulfite modification was done on genomic DNA from MEL hybrids and the promoter and enhancer regions of β-globin gene were amplified, PCR products were subcloned and sequenced. We demonstrated that the observed reduction in steady-state level of β-globin mRNA is partially caused by aberrant splicing followed by activation of nonsense-mediated decay (NMD) pathway, leading to increased degradation of aberrant β-globin mRNA variants. Reduction in expression of β-globin mRNA from β-globinL1 allele comes also from altered rate of transcription. We performed PCR-based nuclear run-on assay and forty minutes of in vitro transcription revealed 30% decrease in β-globinL1 allele transcription rate compared to wild-type β-globin allele. It is known that L1 regulatory regions are highly methylated (3) but there is no evidence so far demonstrating retrotransposon-mediated epigenetic control of neighboring genes. Therefore we determined the methylation status of 6 CpGs between −415 bp and +110 bp (bases upstream and downstream of transcription start) on the promoter region and 3 CpGs between +442 bp to +592 bp on the enhancer region (bases downstream of the poly(A) signal) of the mutated and normal β−globin alleles. Enhancer region of the mutated allele was 100% methylated (100% Me-CpG versus 9% Me-CpG in control), and promoter region was partially methylated (≈ 65% Me−CpG versus 35% Me-CpG in control). Surprisingly, treatment of induced hybrid MEL cells with demethylation agent (5-aza-2′-deoxycytidine, decitabine) did not change the methylation profile and consequently did not increase the expression of β-globinL1 mRNA whereas the expression of γ-globin gene, which was used as an internal control, was increased. We therefore hypothesize that decreased rate of transcription from β-globinL1 allele is associated with altered DNA topology caused by the L1 insertion and β-globinL1 promoter-enhancer displacement. Resulting chromatin modifications lead to permanent β-globinL1 gene silencing and hypermethylation of regulatory sequence refractory to demethylating agent.Divoky V et al: Blood. 1996;88 (suppl1):148a.Kimberland ML, Divoky V et al: Hum Mol Genet. 1999;8:1557-1560.Hata K, Sakaki Y: Gene. 1997;189:227-234. Grant support:NS10281 −3/2009 Ministry of Health, Czech Republic and Internal grant agency of Palacky University grant No. LF_2010_013. Disclosures:No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.

Whole-genome resequencing allows detection of many rare LINE-1 insertion alleles in humans

High-throughput sequencing has recently begun to revolutionize the study of structural variants in the genomes of humans and other species. More recently, this technology and others have been applied to the study of human retrotransposon insertion polymorphisms (RIPs), yielding an unprecedented catalog of common and rare variants due to insertional mutagenesis. At the same time, the 1000 Genomes Project has released an enormous amount of whole-genome sequence data. In this article, we present evidence for 1016 L1 insertions across all studies to date that are not represented in the reference human genome assembly, many of which appear to be specific to populations or groups of populations, particularly Africans. Additionally, a cross-comparison of several studies shows that, on average, 27% of surveyed nonreference insertions is present in only one study, indicating the low frequency of many RIPs.

Branchio-oto-renal syndrome caused by partial EYA1 deletion due to LINE-1 insertion

A 7-year-old Japanese girl with conductive deafness and preauricular fistulae developed proteinuria. She had renal insufficiency, and ultrasound revealed bilateral small kidneys. These findings indicated that she had branchio-oto-renal (BOR) syndrome. In the present patient, we identified, by using multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification (MLPA) analysis, a heterozygous EYA1 gene deletion comprising at least exons 5 to 7. In her parents, we did not detect any deletion in EYA1 by MLPA, so the deletion was a de novo mutation. PCR analysis and sequencing of patient DNA revealed a heterozygous approximately 17 kb EYA1 deletion starting from the eight last bases of exon 4 and proceeding to base 1,217 of intron 7. Furthermore, in place of this deleted region was inserted a 3756-bp-long interspersed nuclear elements-1 (LINE-1, L1). Accordingly, RT-PCR showed that exons 4-7 were not present in EYA1 mRNA expressed from the mutated allele. Although there are reports of L1 element insertion occurring in various human diseases, this is the first report of a large EYA1 deletion in combination with L1 element insertion.

Exon deletions and intragenic insertions are not rare in ataxia with oculomotor apraxia 2

BackgroundThe autosomal recessively inherited ataxia with oculomotor apraxia 2 (AOA2) is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by juvenile or adolescent age of onset, gait ataxia, cerebellar atrophy, axonal sensorimotor neuropathy, oculomotor apraxia, and elevated serum AFP levels. AOA2 is caused by mutations within the senataxin gene (SETX). The majority of known mutations are nonsense, missense, and splice site mutations, as well as small deletions and insertions.MethodsTo detect mutations in patients showing a clinical phenotype consistent with AOA2, the coding region including splice sites of the SETX gene was sequenced and dosage analyses for all exons were performed on genomic DNA. The sequence of cDNA fragments of alternative transcripts isolated after RT-PCR was determined.ResultsSequence analyses of the SETX gene in four patients revealed a heterozygous nonsense mutation or a 4 bp deletion in three cases. In another patient, PCR amplification of exon 11 to 15 dropped out. Dosage analyses and breakpoint localisation yielded a 1.3 kb LINE1 insertion in exon 12 (patient P1) and a 6.1 kb deletion between intron 11 and intron 14 (patient P2) in addition to the heterozygous nonsense mutation R1606X. Patient P3 was compound heterozygous for a 4 bp deletion in exon 10 and a 20.7 kb deletion between intron 10 and 15. This deletion was present in a homozygous state in patient P4.ConclusionOur findings indicate that gross mutations seem to be a frequent cause of AOA2 and reveal the importance of additional copy number analysis for routine diagnostics.

Transglutaminase 1-deficient recessive lamellar ichthyosis associated with a LINE-1 insertion in Jack Russell terrier dogs

Congenital, nonepidermolytic cornification disorders phenotypically resembling human autosomal recessive ichthyosis have been described in purebred dog breeds, including Jack Russell terrier (JRT) dogs. One cause of gene mutation important to humans and dogs is transposon insertions. To describe an autosomal recessive, severe nonepidermolytic ichthyosis resembling lamellar ichthyosis (LI) in JRT dogs due to insertion of a long interspersed nucleotide element (LINE-1) in the transglutaminase 1 (TGM1) gene. Dogs were evaluated clinically, and skin samples were examined by light and electron microscopy. Phenotypic information and genotyping with a canine microsatellite marker suggested TGM1 to be a candidate gene. Genomic DNA samples and cDNA generated from epidermal RNA were examined. Consequences of the mutation were evaluated by Western blotting, quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and enzyme activity from cultured keratinocytes. Affected dogs had generalized severe hyperkeratosis. Histological examination defined laminated to compact hyperkeratosis without epidermolysis; ultrastructurally, cornified envelopes were thin. Affected dogs were homozygous for a 1980-bp insertion within intron 9 of TGM1. The sequence of the insertion was that of a canine LINE-1 element. Quantitative RT-PCR indicated a significant decrease in TGM1 mRNA in affected dogs compared with wild-type. TGM1 protein was markedly decreased on immunoblotting, and membrane-associated enzyme activity was diminished in affected dogs. Based on morphological and molecular features, this disease is homologous with TGM1-deficient LI in humans, clinically models LI better than the genetically modified mouse and represents its first spontaneous animal model. This is the first reported form of LI due to transposon insertion.

The RNA Polymerase Dictates ORF1 Requirement and Timing of LINE and SINE Retrotransposition

Mobile elements comprise close to one half of the mass of the human genome. Only LINE-1 (L1), an autonomous non-Long Terminal Repeat (LTR) retrotransposon, and its non-autonomous partners—such as the retropseudogenes, SVA, and the SINE, Alu—are currently active human retroelements. Experimental evidence shows that Alu retrotransposition depends on L1 ORF2 protein, which has led to the presumption that LINEs and SINEs share the same basic insertional mechanism. Our data demonstrate clear differences in the time required to generate insertions between marked Alu and L1 elements. In our tissue culture system, the process of L1 insertion requires close to 48 hours. In contrast to the RNA pol II-driven L1, we find that pol III transcribed elements (Alu, the rodent SINE B2, and the 7SL, U6 and hY sequences) can generate inserts within 24 hours or less. Our analyses demonstrate that the observed retrotransposition timing does not dictate insertion rate and is independent of the type of reporter cassette utilized. The additional time requirement by L1 cannot be directly attributed to differences in transcription, transcript length, splicing processes, ORF2 protein production, or the ability of functional ORF2p to reach the nucleus. However, the insertion rate of a marked Alu transcript drastically drops when driven by an RNA pol II promoter (CMV) and the retrotransposition timing parallels that of L1. Furthermore, the “pol II Alu transcript” behaves like the processed pseudogenes in our retrotransposition assay, requiring supplementation with L1 ORF1p in addition to ORF2p. We postulate that the observed differences in retrotransposition kinetics of these elements are dictated by the type of RNA polymerase generating the transcript. We present a model that highlights the critical differences of LINE and SINE transcripts that likely define their retrotransposition timing.

Identification and characterization of novel polymorphic LINE-1 insertions through comparison of two human genome sequence assemblies

Mobile elements represent a relatively new class of markers for the study of human evolution. Long interspersed elements (LINEs) belong to a group of retrotransposons comprising approximately 21% of the human genome. Young LINE-1 (L1) elements that have integrated recently into the human genome can be polymorphic for insertion presence/absence in different human populations at particular chromosomal locations. To identify putative novel L1 insertion polymorphisms, we computationally compared two draft assemblies of the whole human genome (Public and Celera Human Genome assemblies). We identified a total of 148 potential polymorphic L1 insertion loci, among which 73 were candidates for novel polymorphic loci. Based on additional analyses we selected 34 loci for further experimental studies. PCR-based assays and DNA sequence analysis were performed for these 34 loci in 80 unrelated individuals from four diverse human populations: African-American, Asian, Caucasian, and South American. All but two of the selected loci were confirmed as polymorphic in our human population panel. Approximately 47% of the analyzed loci integrated into other repetitive elements, most commonly older L1s. One of the insertions was accompanied by a BC200 sequence. Collectively, these mobile elements represent a valuable source of genomic polymorphism for the study of human population genetics. Our results also suggest that the exhaustive identification of L1 insertion polymorphisms is far from complete, and new whole genome sequences are valuable sources for finding novel retrotransposon insertion polymorphisms.

Human Population Genetic Structure and Diversity Inferred from Polymorphic L1(LINE-1) and Alu Insertions

Background/Aims: The L1 retrotransposable element family is the most successful self-replicating genomic parasite of the human genome. L1 elements drive replication of Alu elements, and both have had far-reaching impacts on the human genome. We use L1 and Alu insertion polymorphisms to analyze human population structure. Methods: We genotyped 75 recent, polymorphic L1 insertions in 317 individuals from 21 populations in sub-Saharan Africa, East Asia, Europe and the Indian subcontinent. This is the first sample of L1 loci large enough to support detailed population genetic inference. We analyzed these data in parallel with a set of 100 polymorphic Alu insertion loci previously genotyped in the same individuals. Results and Conclusion: The data sets yield congruent results that support the recent African origin model of human ancestry. A genetic clustering algorithm detects clusters of individuals corresponding to continental regions. The number of loci sampled is critical: with fewer than 50 typical loci, structure cannot be reliably discerned in these populations. The inclusion of geographically intermediate populations (from India) reduces the distinctness of clustering. Our results indicate that human genetic variation is neither perfectly correlated with geographic distance (purely clinal) nor independent of distance (purely clustered), but a combination of both: stepped clinal.

LINE-1 amplification accompanies explosive genome repatterning in rodents

Transposable elements (TEs) sometimes induce karyotypic changes following recombination, breakage and rearrangement. We used FISH and Southern blot analyses to investigate the amount and distribution of LINE-1 retrotransposons in rodents (genus Taterillus, Muridae, Gerbillinae) that have recently undergone an important genome repatterning. Our results were interpreted in a known phylogenetic framework and clearly showed that LINE-1 elements were greatly amplified and non-randomly distributed in the most rearranged karyotypes. A comparison between FISH and conventional banding patterns provided evidence that LINE-1 insertion sites and chromosome breakpoints were not strongly correlated, thus suggesting that LINE-1 amplification subsequently accompanied Taterillus chromosome evolution. Similar patterns are observed in some cases of genomic stresses (hybrid genomes, cancer and DNA-damaged cells) and usually associated with DNA hypomethylation. We propose that intensively repatterned genomes face transient stress phases during which some epigenetic features, such as DNA methylation, are relaxed, thus allowing TE amplification.

LINE-1 Insertion Dimorphisms Identification by PCR

Differentiating between recent LINE-1 (L1) insertion dimorphisms (LIDs) is predominantly useful for studying not only the transposition mechanism but also population genet-ics or evolution based on polymorphic markers where the ancestral state is known (i.e., absence of the insertion) (1–5). Previous techniques such as L1 display (1) or ATLAS (2) have identi-fied new LIDs from distinct popula-tions. To improve both efficiency and simplicity, we designed a PCR-based approach, LID identification by PCR (LIDSIP), by combining and modify-ing ligation-mediated PCR (LMPCR) (6) and interspersed repetitive sequence PCR (IRSPCR) (7). This method requires only a small amount of DNA, a limited and specific number of PCRs to provide a genome-wide scan within a PCR range of an appropriate restriction site, conventional molecular genetic techniques such as agarose gel elec-trophoresis devoid of radioactive label, and in addition, this method yields clear, easily distinguishable, specific results. The aim of applying LIDSIP was to globally map active L1 in the human genome by amplifying the 3′ untrans-lated region (UTR) end of the L1-Ta subset up to its next specific restric-tion enzyme recognition sequences. First, 500 ng human genomic DNA were digested with BstYI (New Eng-land Biolabs, Beverly, MA, USA) and purified with phenol-chloroform extraction and ethanol precipitation. Second, the DNA was ligated to 20 pmol each of LIDSIP-LINK (5′-AGG-TAACGAGTCAGACCACCGACTC-GTGGACGT-3′) and BstYI-LINK (5′-GATCACGTCCACGAG-3′) using T4 DNA ligase (New England Biolabs) at 16°C overnight. Finally 50 ng of the purified ligated DNA were subjected to nested PCR. The first PCR (50 µL total volume) contained 200 µM each of the four dNTPs, 1× PCR buffer (contains 1.5 mM MgCl

Following the LINEs: an analysis of primate genomic variation at human-specific LINE-1 insertion sites.

The L1 Ta subfamily of long interspersed elements (LINEs) consists exclusively of human-specific L1 elements. Polymerase chain reaction-based screening in nonhuman primate genomes of the orthologous sites for 249 human L1 Ta elements resulted in the recovery of various types of sequence variants for approximately 12% of these loci. Sequence analysis was employed to capture the nature of the observed variation and to determine the levels of gene conversion and insertion site homoplasy associated with LINE elements. Half of the orthologous loci differed from the predicted sizes due to localized sequence variants that occurred as a result of common mutational processes in ancestral sequences, often including regions containing simple sequence repeats. Additional sequence variation included genomic deletions that occurred upon L1 insertion, as well as successive mobile element insertions that accumulated within a single locus over evolutionary time. Parallel independent mobile element insertions at orthologous loci in distinct species may introduce homoplasy into retroelement-based phylogenetic and population genetic data. We estimate the overall frequency of parallel independent insertion events at L1 insertion sites in seven different primate species to be very low (0.52%). In addition, no cases of insertion site homoplasy involved the integration of a second L1 element at any of the loci, but rather largely involved secondary insertions of Alu elements. No independent mobile element insertion events were found at orthologous loci in the human and chimpanzee genomes. Therefore, L1 insertion polymorphisms appear to be essentially homoplasy free characters well suited for the study of population genetics and phylogenetic relationships within closely related species.

Reading between the LINEs: human genomic variation induced by LINE-1 retrotransposition.

The insertion of mobile elements into the genome represents a new class of genetic markers for the study of human evolution. Long interspersed elements (LINEs) have amplified to a copy number of about 100,000 over the last 100 million years of mammalian evolution and comprise approximately 15% of the human genome. The majority of LINE-1 (L1) elements within the human genome are 5' truncated copies of a few active L1 elements that are capable of retrotransposition. Some of the young L1 elements have inserted into the human genome so recently that populations are polymorphic for the presence of an L1 element at a particular chromosomal location. L1 insertion polymorphisms offer several advantages over other types of polymorphisms for human evolution studies. First, they are typed by rapid, simple, polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based assays. Second, they are stable polymorphisms that rarely undergo deletion. Third, the presence of an L1 element represents identity by descent, because the probability is negligible that two different young L1 repeats would integrate independently between the exact same two nucleotides. Fourth, the ancestral state of L1 insertion polymorphisms is known to be the absence of the L1 element, which can be used to root plots/trees of population relationships. Here we report the development of a PCR-based display for the direct identification of dimorphic L1 elements from the human genome. We have also developed PCR-based assays for the characterization of six polymorphic L1 elements within the human genome. PCR analysis of human/rodent hybrid cell line DNA samples showed that the polymorphic L1 elements were located on several different chromosomes. Phylogenetic analysis of nonhuman primate DNA samples showed that all of the recently integrated "young" L1 elements were restricted to the human genome and absent from the genomes of nonhuman primates. Analysis of a diverse array of human populations showed that the allele frequencies and level of heterozygosity for each of the L1 elements was variable. Polymorphic L1 elements represent a new source of identical-by-descent variation for the study of human evolution. [The sequence data described in this paper have been submitted to the GenBank data library under accession nos. AF242435-AF242451.]

Positional cloning of the gene for X-linked retinitis pigmentosa 2.

X-linked retinitis pigmentosa (XLRP) results from mutations in at least two different loci, designated RP2 and RP3, located at Xp11.3 and Xp21.1, respectively. The RP3 gene was recently isolated by positional cloning, whereas the RP2 locus was mapped genetically to a 5-cM interval. We have screened this region for genomic rearrangements by the YAC representation hybridization (YRH) technique and detected a LINE1 (L1) insertion in one XLRP patient. The L1 retrotransposition occurred in an intron of a novel gene that consisted of five exons and encoded a polypeptide of 350 amino acids. Subsequently, nonsense, missense and frameshift mutations, as well as two small deletions, were identified in six additional patients. The predicted gene product shows homology with human cofactor C, a protein involved in the ultimate step of beta-tubulin folding. Our data provide evidence that mutations in this gene, designated RP2, are responsible for progressive retinal degeneration.

Asymmetric Methylation in the Hypermethylated CpG Promoter Region of the Human L1 Retrotransposon

We have investigated the function and sequence specificity of DNA methylation in the hypermethylated CpG island promoter region of the endogenous human LINE-1 (L1) retrotransposon family. In nontransformed human embryonic fibroblasts, inhibition of DNA methylation with 5-azadeoxycytidine induced a greater than 4-fold increase in transcription from potentially functional L1 elements without increasing the transcription level of the majority of degenerate elements, implicating hypermethylation in the repression of L1 activity. Using bisulfite genomic sequencing to assess the pattern of methylation in a subset of nondegenerate L1 elements, we found 29 sites within a 460-base pair region of the noncoding (top) DNA strand of the L1 promoter in which cytosine methylation was maintained with high efficiency. Of these, 25 were at CG dinucleotides and four were in non-CG sites. When the methylation sites were analyzed for the complementary (bottom) strand, the only highly conserved sites of methylation were in CG dinucleotides. Several of these sites of CG methylation in the bottom (coding) strand were at positions where top (noncoding) strand-derived sequences were unmethylated, suggesting that these sites might be maintained in a hemi-methylated state. Hence, there is a subset of human L1 elements in which methylation is efficiently maintained in asymmetric non-CG sites and further that this non-CG methylation may be part of a wider phenomenon involving hemi-methylation at CG dinucleotides. Maintenance of asymmetric methylation at non-CG sites (and possibly at hemi-methylated CG dinucleotides) could be through a novel DNA methyltransferase activity. Alternatively, the promoter region of L1 elements may be induced by factor binding to form some type of secondary structure that presents as a highly efficient substrate for de novo methylation.