1. Comparative expression analysis of human endogenous retrovirus elements in peripheral blood of children with specific language impairment
- Author
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Samir Naimov, Tihomir Vachev, Ivan Minkov, Nikolay T. Popov, and DS Minchev
- Subjects
0301 basic medicine ,relative quantitation ,viruses ,Endogeny ,Specific language impairment ,Biology ,QH426-470 ,Genome ,behavioral disciplines and activities ,03 medical and health sciences ,0302 clinical medicine ,human endogenous retrovirus elements (herv) ,medicine ,Genetics ,specific language impairment (sli) ,Repeated sequence ,Gene ,Genetics (clinical) ,Genetic heterogeneity ,blood-based quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (qrt-pcr) ,medicine.disease ,3. Good health ,Gene expression profiling ,030104 developmental biology ,expression profiling ,030220 oncology & carcinogenesis ,Original Article ,Human genome - Abstract
Specific language impairment (SLI) is a psychiatric condition with a complex etiology and a substantial genetic basis that affects children's verbal communication abilities. In this study, we examined the expression of five different human endogenous retrovirus elements (HERVs) in a cohort of 25 children with SLI and 25 healthy children in the control group. Human endogenous retrovirus elements, a diverse group of repetitive DNA sequences, can potentially cause considerable genetic heterogeneity. They had been integrated in the genome of our ancestors throughout evolution and now consist of about 8.0% of the human genome. Several HERV loci are transcribed in various cell types. Their expression in peripheral blood and in the brain is altered in many neurological and psychiatric diseases. To date, HERV expression profiles have never been studied in patients with SLI. This study aimed to elucidate differentially regulated human endogenous retroelements in peripheral blood of children with SLI, in comparison with healthy controls, through quantitative reverse tran-scription-polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) methodology. Our results show that two genes: HERV-K (HLM-2) gag and HERV-P env were expressed at lower levels in the blood samples from SLI children in comparison with those in the control group.
- Published
- 2019