Jasmine Jacob-Hirsch, Eran Eyal, Binyamin A Knisbacher, Jonathan Roth, Karen Cesarkas, Chen Dor, Sarit Farage-Barhom, Vered Kunik, Amos J Simon, Moran Gal, Michal Yalon, Sharon Moshitch-Moshkovitz, Rick Tearle, Shlomi Constantini, Erez Y Levanon, Ninette Amariglio, Gideon Rechavi
Neural progenitor cells undergo somatic retrotransposition events, mainly involving L1 elements, which can be potentially deleterious. Here, we analyze the whole genomes of 20 brain samples and 80 non-brain samples, and characterized the retrotransposition landscape of patients affected by a variety of neurodevelopmental disorders including Rett syndrome, tuberous sclerosis, ataxia-telangiectasia and autism. We report that the number of retrotranspositions in brain tissues is higher than that observed in non-brain samples and even higher in pathologic vs normal brains...
February 2018: Cell Research