Mobile DNA

A Human Endogenous Retrovirus Encoded Protease Potentially Cleaves Numerous Cellular Proteins

Human endogenous retroviruses (HERVs) are usually severely mutated, yet some coding-competent HERVs exist. The HERV-K(HML-2) group includes evolutionarily young proviruses that encode typical retroviral proteins. HERV-K(HML-2) has been implicated in various human diseases because transcription is often upregulated and some of its encoded proteins are known to affect cell biology. HERV-K(HML-2) Protease (Pro) has received little attention so far. In this newly published research article, the authors seek set out to identify human cellular proteins that are substrates of HERV-K(HML-2) Pro employing a modified (TAILS) procedure.

The Editors of Mobile DNA and Retrovirology extend an invitation to submit original research articles related to endogenous retroviruses to their new collection: Endogenous Retroviruses in Evolution and Disease.

Open for submissions: May 24, 2019

Submit an article to Mobile DNA for the series.

The Editors-in-Chief of Mobile DNA welcome authors to send any pre-submission inquiries they might have to the Editorial Email address, which can be found here by clicking on "Contact Us" (upper left side of page). We ask that you please include “Pre-submission inquiry” in the subject line of your email and that you include the title and abstract of your proposed submission within the message. Our Editors will do their best to respond to you in a timely manner.

Highlights from recent literature on mobile elements, selected by the Editors-in-Chief.

Pedigree-based Estimation of Human Mobile Element Retrotransposition Rates [Genome Res 2019] PubMed 

Retrons and their applications in genome engineering [Nucleic Acids Res 2019] PubMed

The Transposon Registry [Mob DNA 2019]

Structure of a P element transposase-DNA complex reveals unusual DNA structures and GTP-DNA contacts [Nat Struct Mol Biol 2019] PubMed

Expansion of a single transposable element family is associated with genome-size increase and radiation in the genus Hydra [Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 2019] PubMed

View all editors' picks

Marlene Belfort, University at Albany
Cédric Feschotte, Cornell University
Haig Kazazian, Johns Hopkins University
Henry Levin, NIH

In 2019, we welcomed our new Associate Editors: 
Irina Arkhipova, University of Chicago, USA
Orsolya Barabas, European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), Germany
Gael Cristofari, Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale, France 
Adam Ewing, Mater Research Institute-University of Queensland, Australia
Clément Gilbert, CNRS, Université Paris Saclay, France 
Molly G Hammell, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, USA
Damon R Lisch, Purdue University, USA
Joe Peters, Cornell University, USA
Phoebe Rice, The University of Chicago, USA

Updated monthly, check out the newest published research on transposable elements in the TE Digest on Alexander Suh of Uppsala University's Genomicrocosm page here. 

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3rd International Workshop on Human Endogenous Retroviruses & Diseases - November 5-6, 2019 - Lyon, France

4th International Congress on Transposable Elements - April 25-28, 2020 - Saint Malo, France

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