Identification of a retroelement-containing human transcript induced in the nucleus by vaccination

Abstract

Endogenous retroelements constitute almost half of the mammalian genome. Given that more than 60% of human genomic bases are transcribed, transcripts containing these retroelements may impact various biological processes. However, the physiological roles of most retroelement-containing transcripts are yet to be revealed. Here, we profiled the expression of retroelement-containing human transcripts during vaccination and found that vaccination upregulated transcripts containing only particular retroelements, such as the MLT-int element of endogenous retroviruses. MLT-int-containing transcripts were distributed mainly in the nucleus, suggesting their unique roles in the nucleus. Furthermore, we demonstrated that MLT-int RNA suppressed interferon promoter activity in the absence of immune stimuli. Based on these lines of evidence, we speculate a model of a role of the previously unnoticedMLT-int element in preventing excess innate immune activation after elimination of immune stimuli. Our results may emphasize the importance of retroelement-containing transcripts in maintaining host immune homeostasis.