Retrovirus-derived acquired genes, RTL5 and RTL6, are novel constituents of the innate immune system in the eutherian brain

Retrotransposon Gag-like 5 (RTL5, also known as sushi-ichi-related retrotransposon homolog 8 (SIRH8)) and RTL6 (aka SIRH3) are eutherian-specific genes presumably derived from a retrovirus and phylogenetically related to each other. RTL5 encodes a strongly acidic protein while RTL6 encodes an extremely basic protein, and the former is well conserved and the latter extremely well conserved among the eutherians, indicating their unique and critically important roles as acquired genes. Here we report that RTL5 and RTL6 are microglial genes playing roles in the front line of brain innate immune responses against distinct pathogens. Venus and mCherry knock-in mice exhibited expression of RTL5-mCherry and RTL6-Venus fusion proteins in microglia and as extracellular granules in the central nervus system (CNS), and displayed a rapid response to pathogens such as lipopolysaccharide (LPS), double-stranded (ds) RNA analog and non-methylated CpG DNA. These proteins trapped pathogens in microglia in a variety of RTL-pathogen complexes depending on the pathogens. These results demonstrate that RTL5 and RTL6 exert functional effects against different hazardous substances cooperatively and/or independently to protect the developing and/or mature brain. This provides the first evidence that retrovirus-derived genes play a role in the innate immune system of the eutherian brain.