Preferred nucleotide sequence at the integration target site of human T-cell leukemia virus type I from patients with adult T-cell leukemia

✍ Scribed by Kuan S. Chou; Akihiko Okayama; Ih-Jen Su; Tun-Hou Lee; Max Essex

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1996
• Tongue: French
• Weight: 581 KB
• Volume: 65
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0020-7136
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1097-0215(19960103)65:1<20::aid-ijc4>3.0.co;2-3

✦ Synopsis

Human T-cell leukemia virus type I (HTLV-I) is etiologically associated with adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma (ATL). We cloned and sequenced host DNA adjacent to the long terminal repeats of HTLV-I from uncultured leukemic cells of 4 ATL patients. The region flanking the provirus was generally A/Trich (60-64Vo A/T), and a nucleotide composition bias was noticed when sequences within 25 bp on both sides of the integration target site were analyzed. In the 6-bp direct repeat, both end positions are preferentially occupied by G / C , whereas the middle positions are preferentially occupied by A/T. Furthermore, AA or l T dinucleotides are frequently present on each side adjacent to the center of the direct repeat. Our finding suggests preferential integration target sites of HTLV-I in the host genome. Further study is warranted to determine whether each of the target sequence preference is a general property of HTLV-I integration or may be associated with the leukemogenesis of ATL.