TitleSARS-CoV-2 infection induces epigenetic changes in the LTR69 subfamily of endogenous retroviruses.
Publication TypeJournal Article
Year of Publication2023
AuthorsArora A, Kolberg JEric, Badarinarayan SSrinivasac, Savytska N, Munot D, Müller M, Krchlíková V, Sauter D, Bansal V
JournalMob DNA
Volume14
Issue1
Pagination11
Date Published2023 Sep 04
ISSN1759-8753
Abstract

Accumulating evidence suggests that endogenous retroviruses (ERVs) play an important role in the host response to infection and the development of disease. By analyzing ChIP-sequencing data sets, we show that SARS-CoV-2 infection induces H3K27 acetylation of several loci within the LTR69 subfamily of ERVs. Using functional assays, we identified one SARS-CoV-2-activated LTR69 locus, termed Dup69, which exhibits regulatory activity and is responsive to the transcription factors IRF3 and p65/RELA. LTR69_Dup69 is located about 500 bp upstream of a long non-coding RNA gene (ENSG00000289418) and within the PTPRN2 gene encoding a diabetes-associated autoantigen. Both ENSG00000289418 and PTPRN2 showed a significant increase in expression upon SARS-CoV-2 infection. Thus, our study sheds light on the interplay of exogenous with endogenous viruses and helps to understand how ERVs regulate gene expression during infection.

DOI10.1186/s13100-023-00299-1
Alternate JournalMob DNA
PubMed ID37667401
PubMed Central IDPMC10476400