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Expression profiles of HERV-K Env protein in normal and cancerous tissues

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Abstract

Human endogenous retroviruses (HERVs) have been proposed as etiological cofactors in chronic diseases such as cancer, autoimmunity and neurological disease. HERV RNA expression is also increased in several autoimmune diseases and cancers. However, only a few studies have analyzed the expression levels of HERV-derived proteins in normal and diseased tissues. Here, we investigated the expression profiles of HERV-K Env protein, which is the most well-known pathogen, from normal and cancer tissue microarray. Normal and cancer tissue microarray slides containing 59 normal or 60 tumor surgical specimens, respectively were immunostained with mouse monoclonal antibody to HERV-K and staining intensity was scored. The expression of HERV-K Env protein is generally low in normal tissues but high in specific tissues including bronchus submucosal gland, salivary gland acini, pancreas acini, testis seminiferous tubule, uterine cervix epithelium, ovary stroma, skin epidermis, and heart. The expression of HERV-K Env protein in tumors was usually higher than normal tissues and specifically high in breast, liver, stomach, prostate, and ovarian cancer. This study provides protein expression profiles of HERV-K Env protein in human normal and cancer tissues and provides a good reference for further studies on the expression patterns and roles of HERV-K Env protein in normal organs and various cancers. Further studies with specific organs or cancers and a statistically significant numbers of samples are necessary.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by High-Tech Convergence Technology Development Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Science, ICT& Future Planning (2014M3C1A3051981) and a grant from the Kosin University College of Medicine (2014).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departments of Parasitology and Genetics, Kosin University College of Medicine, Busan, 602-702, Republic of Korea

    Jin-Ok Jo, Yun-Jeong Kang, Mee Sun Ock & Hee-Jae Cha

  2. Departments of Physiology, Kosin University College of Medicine, Busan, Republic of Korea

    Kyoung Seob Song

  3. Department of Oral Histology & Developmental Biology, School of Dentistry, Chosun University, Gwangju, Republic of Korea

    Moon-Jin Jeong

  4. Department of Dental Hygiene, College of Health Sciences, Youngsan University, Yangsan, Republic of Korea

    Soon-Jeong Jeong

  5. Department of Biochemistry, College of Oriental Medicine, Dongeui University, Busan, Republic of Korea

    Yung Hyun Choi

  6. Department of Biological Science, Dong-A University, Busan, Republic of Korea

    Eun-Ji Ko & Sun-Hee Leem

  7. Department of Chemistry, College of Natural Sciences, Pusan National University, Busan, Republic of Korea

    Suhkmann Kim

  8. Department of Biological Sciences, College of Natural Sciences, Pusan National University, Busan, 609-735, Republic of Korea

    Heui-Soo Kim

  9. Institute for Medical Science, Kosin University College of Medicine, Busan, Republic of Korea

    Hee-Jae Cha

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  1. Jin-Ok Jo
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  2. Yun-Jeong Kang
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  3. Mee Sun Ock
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  4. Kyoung Seob Song
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  9. Sun-Hee Leem
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  10. Suhkmann Kim
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  11. Heui-Soo Kim
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Correspondence to Heui-Soo Kim or Hee-Jae Cha.

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Jo, JO., Kang, YJ., Ock, M.S. et al. Expression profiles of HERV-K Env protein in normal and cancerous tissues. Genes Genom 38, 91–107 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13258-015-0343-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13258-015-0343-9

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