LTR-Retrotransposon Control by tRNA-Derived Small RNAs

Schorn, A. J., Gutbrod, M. J., LeBlanc, C., Martienssen, R. (June 2017) LTR-Retrotransposon Control by tRNA-Derived Small RNAs. Cell, 170 (1). pp. 61-71. ISSN 0092-8674 (Public Dataset)

Abstract

Transposon reactivation is an inherent danger in cells that lose epigenetic silencing during developmental reprogramming. In the mouse, long terminal repeat (LTR)-retrotransposons, or endogenous retroviruses (ERV), account for most novel insertions and are expressed in the absence of histone H3 lysine 9 trimethylation in preimplantation stem cells. We found abundant 18 nt tRNA-derived small RNA (tRF) in these cells and ubiquitously expressed 22 nt tRFs that include the 3' terminal CCA of mature tRNAs and target the tRNA primer binding site (PBS) essential for ERV reverse transcription. We show that the two most active ERV families, IAP and MusD/ETn, are major targets and are strongly inhibited by tRFs in retrotransposition assays. 22 nt tRFs post-transcriptionally silence coding-competent ERVs, while 18 nt tRFs specifically interfere with reverse transcription and retrotransposon mobility. The PBS offers a unique target to specifically inhibit LTR-retrotransposons, and tRF-targeting is a potentially highly conserved mechanism of small RNA-mediated transposon control.

Item Type: Paper
Uncontrolled Keywords: LTR-retrotransposon mobility epigenetic reprogramming mouse endogenous retroviruses small RNA tRNA fragments transposon control
Subjects: bioinformatics > genomics and proteomics > genetics & nucleic acid processing > DNA, RNA structure, function, modification > sRNA
bioinformatics > genomics and proteomics > genetics & nucleic acid processing > DNA, RNA structure, function, modification > tRNA
bioinformatics > genomics and proteomics > genetics & nucleic acid processing > DNA, RNA structure, function, modification > transposons
CSHL Authors:
Communities: CSHL Cancer Center Program > Gene Regulation and Cell Proliferation
CSHL Cancer Center Program > Gene Regulation and Inheritance Program
CSHL labs > Martienssen lab
CSHL labs > Schorn lab
School of Biological Sciences > Publications
Depositing User: Matt Covey
Date: 29 June 2017
Date Deposited: 20 Jul 2017 20:25
Last Modified: 07 Jul 2021 13:59
PMCID: PMC5551035
Related URLs:
Dataset ID:
URI: https://repository.cshl.edu/id/eprint/35062

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