This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowReprints and Permissions
Right arrow Copyright Information
Right arrow Books from ASM Press
Right arrow MicrobeWorld
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Frank, O.
Right arrow Articles by Seifarth, W.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Frank, O.
Right arrow Articles by Seifarth, W.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Journal of Virology, September 2005, p. 10890-10901, Vol. 79, No. 17
0022-538X/05/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JVI.79.17.10890-10901.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Human Endogenous Retrovirus Expression Profiles in Samples from Brains of Patients with Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorders

Oliver Frank,1* Michelle Giehl,1 Chun Zheng,1 Rüdiger Hehlmann,1 Christine Leib-Mösch,1,2 and Wolfgang Seifarth1

Medical Clinic III, Faculty of Clinical Medicine Mannheim, University of Heidelberg, D-68305 Mannheim, Germany,1 GSF Research Center for Environment and Health, Institute of Molecular Virology, D-85764 Oberschleissheim, Germany2

Received 9 March 2005/ Accepted 20 May 2005

The detection and identification of retroviral transcripts in brain samples, cerebrospinal fluid, and plasma of individuals with recent-onset schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorders suggest that activation or upregulation of distinct human endogenous retroviruses (HERVs) may play a role in the etiopathogenesis of neuropsychiatric diseases. To test this hypothesis, we performed a comprehensive microarray-based analysis of HERV transcriptional activity in human brains. We investigated 50 representative members of 20 HERV families in a total of 215 brain samples derived from individuals with schizophrenia or bipolar disorders and matched controls. A characteristic brain-specific retroviral activity profile was found that consists of members of the class I families HERV-E, HERV-F, and ERV9 and members of HERV-K taxa. In addition to these constitutively expressed HERVs, a number of differentially active HERV elements were identified in all brain samples independent of the disease pattern that may reflect differences in the genetic background of the tested individuals. Only a subgroup of the HML-2 family (HERV-K10) was significantly overrepresented in both bipolar-disorder- and schizophrenia-associated samples compared to healthy brains, suggesting a potential association with disease. Real-time PCR analysis of HERV env transcripts with coding capacity potentially involved in neuroinflammatory conditions revealed that env expression of HERV-W, HERV-FRD, and HML-2 remains unaffected regardless of the clinical picture. Our data suggest that HERV transcription in brains is weakly correlated with schizophrenia and related diseases but may be influenced by the individual genetic background, brain-infiltrating immune cells, or medical treatment.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: III. Medizinische Universitätsklinik, Fakultät für Klinische Medizin Mannheim der Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg, Wiesbadener Strasse 7-11, D-68305 Mannheim, Germany. Phone: 49 (0)621 383 4103. Fax: 49 (0)621 383 4201. E-mail: oliver.frank{at}med3.ma.uni-heidelberg.de.

Journal of Virology, September 2005, p. 10890-10901, Vol. 79, No. 17
0022-538X/05/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JVI.79.17.10890-10901.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Schon, U., Diem, O., Leitner, L., Gunzburg, W. H., Mager, D. L., Salmons, B., Leib-Mosch, C. (2009). Human Endogenous Retroviral Long Terminal Repeat Sequences as Cell Type-Specific Promoters in Retroviral Vectors. J. Virol. 83: 12643-12650 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Ryan, F. P (2009). An alternative approach to medical genetics based on modern evolutionary biology. Part 3: HERVs in diseases. JRSM 102: 415-424 [Full Text]  
  • Gogvadze, E., Stukacheva, E., Buzdin, A., Sverdlov, E. (2009). Human-Specific Modulation of Transcriptional Activity Provided by Endogenous Retroviral Insertions. J. Virol. 83: 6098-6105 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Voisset, C., Weiss, R. A., Griffiths, D. J. (2008). Human RNA "Rumor" Viruses: the Search for Novel Human Retroviruses in Chronic Disease. Microbiol. Mol. Biol. Rev. 72: 157-196 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Frank, O., Verbeke, C., Schwarz, N., Mayer, J., Fabarius, A., Hehlmann, R., Leib-Mosch, C., Seifarth, W. (2008). Variable Transcriptional Activity of Endogenous Retroviruses in Human Breast Cancer. J. Virol. 82: 1808-1818 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Buzdin, A., Kovalskaya-Alexandrova, E., Gogvadze, E., Sverdlov, E. (2006). At Least 50% of Human-Specific HERV-K (HML-2) Long Terminal Repeats Serve In Vivo as Active Promoters for Host Nonrepetitive DNA Transcription.. J. Virol. 80: 10752-10762 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Iwamoto, K., Kato, T. (2006). Gene Expression Profiling in Schizophrenia and Related Mental Disorders. Neuroscientist 12: 349-361 [Abstract]  
  • Stengel, A., Roos, C., Hunsmann, G., Seifarth, W., Leib-Mosch, C., Greenwood, A. D. (2006). Expression Profiles of Endogenous Retroviruses in Old World Monkeys. J. Virol. 80: 4415-4421 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Pichon, J.-P., Bonnaud, B., Cleuziat, P., Mallet, F. (2006). Multiplex degenerate PCR coupled with an oligo sorbent array for human endogenous retrovirus expression profiling. Nucleic Acids Res 34: e46-e46 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Buzdin, A., Kovalskaya-Alexandrova, E., Gogvadze, E., Sverdlov, E. (2006). GREM, a technique for genome-wide isolation and quantitative analysis of promoter active repeats.. Nucleic Acids Res 34: e67-e67 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


Copyright © 2009 by the American Society for Microbiology.   For an alternate route to Journals.ASM.org, visit: http://intl-journals.asm.org | More Info»