Activation of transcription and retrotransposition of a novel retroelement, Steamer, in neoplastic hemocytes of the mollusk Mya arenaria

• Published in: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
• Main Authors: Arriagada, Gloria, Metzger, Michael J., Muttray, Annette F., Sherry, James, Reinisch, Carol, Street, Craig, Lipkin, W. Ian, Goff, Stephen P.
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: National Academy of Sciences 2014
• Subjects: Biological Sciences; North Atlantic
• Online Access: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4191779; http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25201971; https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1409945111

The soft shell clam in many areas of the North Atlantic is afflicted with a fatal leukemia-like disease of unknown origin. Leukemic cells from the diseased animals were found to release reverse transcriptase and to express high RNA levels of a previously unknown member of the gypsy family of retroelements, Steamer. The DNA copy number of the element was increased to enormously high levels in diseased cells, mediated by reverse transcription and integration into the host genome. The activation of Steamer expression and transposition may initiate or accelerate the course of leukemia and constitutes a potential diagnostic marker of the disease.