Genomic DNA transposition induced by human PGBD5
- Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, United States
- Weill Cornell Medical College, United States
- Harvard Medical School, United States
- University of Utah School of Medicine, United States
Abstract
Transposons are mobile genetic elements that are found in nearly all organisms, including humans. Mobilization of DNA transposons by transposase enzymes can cause genomic rearrangements, but our knowledge of human genes derived from transposases is limited. Here, we find that the protein encoded by human PGBD5, the most evolutionarily conserved transposable element-derived gene in vertebrates, can induce stereotypical cut-and-paste DNA transposition in human cells. Genomic integration activity of PGBD5 requires distinct aspartic acid residues in its transposase domain, and specific DNA sequences containing inverted terminal repeats with similarity to piggyBac transposons. DNA transposition catalyzed by PGBD5 in human cells occurs genome-wide, with precise transposon excision and preference for insertion at TTAA sites. The apparent conservation of DNA transposition activity by PGBD5 suggests that genomic remodeling contributes to its biological function.
Article and author information
Author details
Reviewing Editor
- Michael R Botchan, University of California, Berkeley, United States
Version history
- Received: August 3, 2015
- Accepted: September 23, 2015
- Accepted Manuscript published: September 25, 2015 (version 1)
- Version of Record published: October 29, 2015 (version 2)
Copyright
© 2015, Henssen et al.
This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License permitting unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited.
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Genomic DNA transposition induced by human PGBD5
eLife 4:e10565.
https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.10565
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