AIDS Res Hum Retroviruses 2001 Nov
20;17(17):1665-71
Kim HS.
Division of Biological Sciences,
College of Natural Sciences, Pusan National University, Pusan 609-735,
South Korea.
A new human endogenous retroviral family (HERV-W) has been described that is related to multiple sclerosis-associated retrovirus (MSRV) sequences that have been identified in particles recovered from monocyte cultures from patients with multiple sclerosis.
Using the PCR approach with a human monochromosomal somatic cell hybrid DNA panel, 24 pol fragments of the HERV-W family from chromsomes 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 20, 21, X, and Y were identified and analyzed. They showed a high degree of nucleotide sequence similarity (89.3-91.3%) with that of the HERV-W.
Translation of the pol fragments showed no frameshift and termination codon by deletion/insertion or point mutation in some clones: HWP4-1, HWP4-2 from chromosome 4, and HWPX-1 from chromosome X.
Phylogenetic analysis of the HERV-W
family indicates that the pol fragments have evolved independently among
chromosomes or represent separate integration events during primate evolution.
PMID: 11779355 [PubMed - in process]