Inhibition of the rous sarcoma virus long terminal repeat-driven transcription by in vitro methylation: different sensitivity in permissive chicken cells versus mammalian cells

Longitudinal variation in human immunodeficiency virus long terminal repeat methylation in individuals on suppressive antiretroviral therapy

BACKGROUND

Persistence of latent, replication-competent provirus in CD4+ T cells of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected individuals on antiretroviral treatment (ART) is the main obstacle for virus eradication. Methylation of the proviral 5' long terminal repeat (LTR) promoter region has been proposed as a possible mechanism contributing to HIV latency; however, conflicting observations exist regarding its relevance. We assessed 5'-LTR methylation profiles in total CD4+ T cells from blood of 12 participants on short-term ART (30 months) followed up for 2 years, and a cross-sectional group of participants with long-term ART (6-15 years), using next generation sequencing. We then looked for associations between specific 5'-LTR methylation patterns and baseline and follow-up clinical characteristics.

RESULTS

5'-LTR methylation was observed in all participants and behaved dynamically. The number of 5'-LTR variants found per sample ranged from 1 to 13, with median sequencing depth of 16270× (IQR 4107×-46760×). An overall significant 5'-LTR methylation increase was observed at month 42 compared to month 30 (median CpG Methylation Index: 74.7% vs. 0%, p = 0.025). This methylation increase was evident in a subset of participants (methylation increase group), while the rest maintained fairly high and constant methylation (constant methylation group). Persons in the methylation increase group were younger, had higher CD4+ T cell gain, larger CD8% decrease, and larger CD4/CD8 ratio change after 48 months on ART (all p < 0.001). Using principal component analysis, the constant methylation and methylation increase groups showed low evidence of separation along time (factor 2: p = 0.04). Variance was largely explained (21%) by age, CD4+/CD8+ T cell change, and CD4+ T cell subpopulation proportions. Persons with long-term ART showed overall high methylation (median CpG Methylation Index: 78%; IQR 71-87%). No differences were observed in residual plasma viral load or proviral load comparing individuals on short-term (both at 30 or 42 months) and long-term ART.

CONCLUSIONS

Our study shows evidence that HIV 5'-LTR methylation in total CD4+ T cells is dynamic along time and that it can follow different temporal patterns that are associated with a combination of baseline and follow-up clinical characteristics. These observations may account for differences observed between previous contrasting studies.

The Current View of Retroviruses as Seen from the Shoulders of a Giant

It has now been more than two years since we said our last goodbye to Jan Svoboda (14 [...].

Proviruses with Long-Term Stable Expression Accumulate in Transcriptionally Active Chromatin Close to the Gene Regulatory Elements: Comparison of ASLV-, HIV- and MLV-Derived Vectors

Individual groups of retroviruses and retroviral vectors differ in their integration site preference and interaction with the host genome. Hence, immediately after infection genome-wide distribution of integrated proviruses is non-random. During long-term in vitro or persistent in vivo infection, the genomic position and chromatin environment of the provirus affects its transcriptional activity. Thus, a selection of long-term stably expressed proviruses and elimination of proviruses, which have been gradually silenced by epigenetic mechanisms, helps in the identification of genomic compartments permissive for proviral transcription. We compare here the extent and time course of provirus silencing in single cell clones of the K562 human myeloid lymphoblastoma cell line that have been infected with retroviral reporter vectors derived from avian sarcoma/leukosis virus (ASLV), human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV) and murine leukaemia virus (MLV). While MLV proviruses remain transcriptionally active, ASLV proviruses are prone to rapid silencing. The HIV provirus displays gradual silencing only after an extended time period in culture. The analysis of integration sites of long-term stably expressed proviruses shows a strong bias for some genomic features-especially integration close to the transcription start sites of active transcription units. Furthermore, complex analysis of histone modifications enriched at the site of integration points to the accumulation of proviruses of all three groups in gene regulatory segments, particularly close to the enhancer loci. We conclude that the proximity to active regulatory chromatin segments correlates with stable provirus expression in various retroviral species.

ALV Integration-Associated Hypomethylation at the TERT Promoter Locus

Avian leukosis virus (ALV) is a simple retrovirus that can induce B-cell lymphoma in chicken(s) and other birds by insertional mutagenesis. The promoter region of telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) has been identified as an important integration site for tumorigenesis. Tumors with TERT promoter integrations are associated with increased TERT expression. The mechanism of this activation is still under investigation. We asked whether insertion of proviral DNA perturbs the epigenome of the integration site and, subsequently, impacts the regulation of neighboring genes. DNA cytosine methylation, which generally acts to suppress transcription, is one major form of epigenetic regulation. In this study, we examine allele-specific methylation patterns of genomic DNA from chicken tumors by bisulfite sequencing. We observed that alleles with TERT promoter integrations are associated with decreased methylation in the host genome near the site of integration. Our observations suggest that insertion of ALV in the TERT promoter region may induce expression of TERT through inhibition of maintenance methylation in the TERT promoter region.

Accumulation of long-term transcriptionally active integrated retroviral vectors in active promoters and enhancers

Most retroviruses preferentially integrate into certain genomic locations and, as a result, their genome-wide integration patterns are non-random. We investigate the epigenetic landscape of integrated retroviral vectors and correlate it with the long-term stability of proviral transcription. Retroviral vectors derived from the avian sarcoma/leukosis virus expressing the GFP reporter were used to transduce the human myeloid lymphoblastoma cell line K562. Because of efficient silencing of avian retrovirus in mammalian cells, only ∼3% of established clones displayed stable proviral expression. We analyzed the vector integration sites in non-selected cells and in clones selected for the GFP expression. This selection led to overrepresentation of proviruses integrated in active transcription units, with particular accumulation in promoter-proximal areas. In parallel, we investigated the integration of vectors equipped with an anti-silencing CpG island core sequence. Such modification increased the frequency of stably expressing proviruses by one order. The modified vectors are also overrepresented in active transcription units, but stably expressed in distal parts of transcriptional units further away from promoters with marked accumulation in enhancers. These results suggest that integrated retroviruses subject to gradual epigenetic silencing during long-term cultivation. Among most genomic compartments, however, active promoters and enhancers protect the adjacent retroviruses from transcriptional silencing.

Alpharetroviral vectors: from a cancer-causing agent to a useful tool for human gene therapy

Gene therapy using integrating retroviral vectors has proven its effectiveness in several clinical trials for the treatment of inherited diseases and cancer. However, vector-mediated adverse events related to insertional mutagenesis were also observed, emphasizing the need for safer therapeutic vectors. Paradoxically, alpharetroviruses, originally discovered as cancer-causing agents, have a more random and potentially safer integration pattern compared to gammaretro- and lentiviruses. In this review, we provide a short overview of the history of alpharetroviruses and explain how they can be converted into state-of-the-art gene delivery tools with improved safety features. We discuss development of alpharetroviral vectors in compliance with regulatory requirements for clinical translation, and provide an outlook on possible future gene therapy applications. Taken together, this review is a broad overview of alpharetroviral vectors spanning the bridge from their parental virus discovery to their potential applicability in clinical settings.

Role of DNA methylation in expression and transmission of porcine endogenous retroviruses

Porcine endogenous retroviruses (PERV) represent a major safety concern in pig-to-human xenotransplantation. To date, no PERV infection of a xenograft recipient has been recorded; however, PERVs are transmissible to human cells in vitro. Some recombinants of the A and C PERV subgroups are particularly efficient in infection and replication in human cells. Transcription of PERVs has been described in most pig cells, but their sequence and insertion polymorphism in the pig genome impede identification of transcriptionally active or silenced proviral copies. Furthermore, little is known about the epigenetic regulation of PERV transcription. Here, we report on the transcriptional suppression of PERV by DNA methylation in vitro and describe heavy methylation in the majority of PERV 5' long terminal repeats (LTR) in porcine tissues. In contrast, we have detected sparsely methylated or nonmethylated proviruses in the porcine PK15 cells, which express human cell-tropic PERVs. We also demonstrate the resistance of PERV DNA methylation to inhibitors of methylation and deacetylation. Finally, we show that the high permissiveness of various human cell lines to PERV infection coincides with the inability to efficiently silence the PERV proviruses by 5'LTR methylation. In conclusion, we suggest that DNA methylation is involved in PERV regulation, and that only a minor fraction of proviruses are responsible for the PERV RNA expression and porcine cell infectivity.

Transcriptional provirus silencing as a crosstalk of de novo DNA methylation and epigenomic features at the integration site

The autonomous transcription of integrated retroviruses strongly depends on genetic and epigenetic effects of the chromatin at the site of integration. These effects are mostly suppressive and proviral activity can be finally silenced by mechanisms, such as DNA methylation and histone modifications. To address the role of the integration site at the whole-genome-scale, we performed clonal analysis of provirus silencing with an avian leucosis/sarcoma virus-based reporter vector and correlated the transcriptional silencing with the epigenomic landscape of respective integrations. We demonstrate efficient provirus silencing in human HCT116 cell line, which is strongly but not absolutely dependent on the de novo DNA methyltransferase activity, particularly of Dnmt3b. Proviruses integrated close to the transcription start sites of active genes into the regions enriched in H3K4 trimethylation display long-term stability of expression and are resistant to the transcriptional silencing after over-expression of Dnmt3a or Dnmt3b. In contrast, proviruses in the intergenic regions tend to spontaneous transcriptional silencing even in Dnmt3a(-/-) Dnmt3b(-/-) cells. The silencing of proviruses within genes is accompanied with DNA methylation of long terminal repeats, whereas silencing in intergenic regions is DNA methylation-independent. These findings indicate that the epigenomic features of integration sites are crucial for their permissivity to the proviral expression.

Epigenetic regulation of transcription and splicing of syncytins, fusogenic glycoproteins of retroviral origin

Syncytin-1 and -2, human fusogenic glycoproteins encoded by the env genes of the endogenous retroviral loci ERVWE1 and ERVFRDE1, respectively, contribute to the differentiation of multinucleated syncytiotrophoblast in chorionic villi. In non-trophoblastic cells, however, the expression of syncytins has to be suppressed to avoid potential pathogenic effects. We studied the epigenetic suppression of ERVWE1 and ERVFRDE1 5′-long terminal repeats by DNA methylation and chromatin modifications. Immunoprecipitation of the provirus-associated chromatin revealed the H3K9 trimethylation at transcriptionally inactivated syncytins in HeLa cells. qRT-PCR analysis of non-spliced ERVWE1 and ERVFRDE1 mRNAs and respective env mRNAs detected efficient splicing of endogenously expressed RNAs in trophoblastic but not in non-placental cells. Pointing to the pathogenic potential of aberrantly expressed syncytin-1, we have found deregulation of transcription and splicing of the ERVWE1 in biopsies of testicular seminomas. Finally, ectopic expression experiments suggest the importance of proper chromatin context for the ERVWE1 splicing. Our results thus demonstrate that cell-specific retroviral splicing represents an additional epigenetic level controling the expression of endogenous retroviruses.

In vivo, in vitro, and in silico analysis of methylation of the HIV-1 provirus

HIV-1 latency is a barrier to overcome in the effort to fully eradicate the virus from infected individuals using highly active anti-retroviral therapy (HAART). Therefore, the study of the mechanisms underlying the establishment and maintenance of HIV-1 latency are vital to achieving a cure. Transcriptional repression of the viral promoter is the major cause of HIV-1 latency. DNA methylation of genomic regions known as CpG islands (CpGIs) is a well-established transcriptional regulatory mechanism, and the HIV-1 provirus contains several conserved CpGIs including two that are located within the viral promoter region. The study of these CpGIs in both in vitro and in vivo models of HIV-1 latency using the technique of bisulfite-mediated methylcytosine mapping has led to their identification as factors that contribute to the maintenance of HIV-1 latency. Here, we discuss the identification of CpGIs within the HIV-1 provirus and the study of their differential methylation patterns in several HIV-1 latency models using bisulfite-mediated methylcytosine mapping.

CpG methylation controls reactivation of HIV from latency

DNA methylation of retroviral promoters and enhancers localized in the provirus 5' long terminal repeat (LTR) is considered to be a mechanism of transcriptional suppression that allows retroviruses to evade host immune responses and antiretroviral drugs. However, the role of DNA methylation in the control of HIV-1 latency has never been unambiguously demonstrated, in contrast to the apparent importance of transcriptional interference and chromatin structure, and has never been studied in HIV-1-infected patients. Here, we show in an in vitro model of reactivable latency and in a latent reservoir of HIV-1-infected patients that CpG methylation of the HIV-1 5' LTR is an additional epigenetic restriction mechanism, which controls resistance of latent HIV-1 to reactivation signals and thus determines the stability of the HIV-1 latency. CpG methylation acts as a late event during establishment of HIV-1 latency and is not required for the initial provirus silencing. Indeed, the latent reservoir of some aviremic patients contained high proportions of the non-methylated 5' LTR. The latency controlled solely by transcriptional interference and by chromatin-dependent mechanisms in the absence of significant promoter DNA methylation tends to be leaky and easily reactivable. In the latent reservoir of HIV-1-infected individuals without detectable plasma viremia, we found HIV-1 promoters and enhancers to be hypermethylated and resistant to reactivation, as opposed to the hypomethylated 5' LTR in viremic patients. However, even dense methylation of the HIV-1 5'LTR did not confer complete resistance to reactivation of latent HIV-1 with some histone deacetylase inhibitors, protein kinase C agonists, TNF-alpha, and their combinations with 5-aza-2deoxycytidine: the densely methylated HIV-1 promoter was most efficiently reactivated in virtual absence of T cell activation by suberoylanilide hydroxamic acid. Tight but incomplete control of HIV-1 latency by CpG methylation might have important implications for strategies aimed at eradicating HIV-1 infection.

The core element of a CpG island protects avian sarcoma and leukosis virus-derived vectors from transcriptional silencing

Unmethylated CpG islands are known to keep adjacent promoters transcriptionally active. In the CpG island adjacent to the adenosine phosphoribosyltransferase gene, the protection against transcriptional silencing can be attributed to the short CpG-rich core element containing Sp1 binding sites. We report here the insertion of this CpG island core element, IE, into the long terminal repeat of a retroviral vector derived from Rous sarcoma virus, which normally suffers from progressive transcriptional silencing in mammalian cells. IE insertion into a specific position between enhancer and promoter sequences led to efficient protection of the integrated vector from silencing and gradual CpG methylation in rodent and human cells. Individual cell clones with IE-modified reporter vectors display high levels of reporter expression for a sustained period and without substantial variegation in the cell culture. The presence of Sp1 binding sites is important for the protective effect of IE, but at least some part of the entire antisilencing capacity is maintained in IE with mutated Sp1 sites. We suggest that this strategy of antisilencing protection by the CpG island core element may prove generally useful in retroviral vectors.

Retrovirus-mediated in vitro gene transfer into chicken male germ line cells

Chicken testicular cells, including spermatogonia, transplanted into the testes of recipient cockerels sterilized by repeated γ-irradiation repopulate the seminiferous epithelium and resume the exogenous spermatogenesis. This procedure could be used to introduce genetic modifications into the male germ line and generate transgenic chickens. In this study, we present a successful retroviral infection of chicken testicular cells and consequent transduction of the retroviral vector into the sperm of recipient cockerels. A vesicular stomatitis virus glycoprotein G-pseudotyped recombinant retroviral vector, carrying the enhanced green fluorescent protein reporter gene was applied to the short-term culture of dispersed testicular cells. The efficiency of infection and the viability of infected cells were analyzed by flow cytometry. No significant CpG methylation was detected in the infected testicular cells, suggesting that epigenetic silencing events do not play a role at this stage of germ line development. After transplantation into sterilized recipient cockerels, these retrovirus-infected testicular cells restored exogenous spermatogenesis within 9 weeks with approximately the same efficiency as non-infected cells. Transduction of the reporter gene encoding the green fluorescent protein was detected in the sperms of recipient cockerels with restored spermatogenesis. Our data demonstrate that, similarly as in mouse and rat, the transplantation of retrovirus-infected spermatogonia provides an efficient system to introduce genes into the chicken male germ line.

CpG methylation suppresses transcriptional activity of human syncytin-1 in non-placental tissues

Syncytin-1 is a captive envelope glycoprotein encoded by one of human endogenous retroviruses W. It is expressed exclusively in the placental trophoblast where it participates in cell-to-cell fusion during differentiation of syncytiotrophobast. In other tissues, however, syncytin-1 expression must be kept in check because inadvertent cell fusion might be dangerous for tissue organization and integrity. We describe here an inverse correlation between CpG methylation of syncytin-1 5' long terminal repeat and its expression. Hypomethylation of the syncytin-1 5' long terminal repeat in the placenta and in the choriocarcinoma-derived cell line BeWo was detected. However, other analyzed primary cells and cell lines non-expressing syncytin-1 contain proviruses heavily methylated in this sequence. CpG methylation of syncytin-1 is resistant to the effect of the demethylating agent 5-azacytidine. The inhibitory role of CpG methylation is further confirmed by transient transfection of in-vitro-methylated syncytin-1 promoter-driven reporter construct. Altogether, we conclude that CpG methylation plays a principal role in the transcriptional suppression of syncytin-1 in non-placental tissues, and, in contrast, demethylation of the syncytin-1 promoter in trophoblast is a prerequisite for its expression and differentiation of multinucleated syncytiotrophoblast.

DNA methylation of Sleeping Beauty with transposition into the mouse genome

The Sleeping Beauty transposon is a recently developed non-viral vector that can mediate insertion of transgenes into the mammalian genome. Foreign DNA elements that are introduced tend to invoke a host-defense mechanism resulting in epigenetic changes, such as DNA methylation, which may induce transcriptional inactivation of mammalian genes. To assess potential epigenetic modifications associated with Sleeping Beauty transposition, we investigated the DNA methylation pattern of transgenes inserted into the mouse genome as well as genomic regions flanking the insertion sites with bisulfite-mediated genomic sequencing. Transgenic mouse lines were created with two different Sleeping Beauty transposons carrying either the Agouti or eGFP transgene. Our results showed that DNA methylation in the keratin-14 promoter and Agouti transgene were negligible. In addition, two different genomic loci flanking the Agouti insertion site exhibited patterns of DNA methylation similar to wild-type mice. In contrast, high levels of DNA methylation were observed in the eGFP transgene and its ROSA26 promoter. These results indicate that transposition via Sleeping Beauty into the mouse genome may result in a significant level of de novo DNA methylation. This may depend on a number of different factors including the cargo DNA sequence, chromosomal context of the insertion site, and/or host genetic background.

Characterization of hortulanus endogenous murine leukemia virus, an endogenous provirus that encodes an infectious murine leukemia virus of a novel subgroup

Simple retroviruses present a unique opportunity for examining the host-virus relationship. Following exogenous infection and integration into the germ line, copies of these viruses can become fixed within the genome. The resulting endogenous proviral "fossils" represent a record of past retroviral infections and forms. Previous work in our laboratory has been directed at dissecting the extensive nonecotropic murine leukemia virus content of the mouse genome. One such provirus, hortulanus endogenous murine leukemia virus (HEMV), found in a single copy in the genome of Mus spicilegus, was remarkable for characteristics that suggested that it was ancient and related to the hypothetical common ancestor of murine leukemia viruses (MLVs) and other gammaretroviral species. In the present study, we have analyzed its functional properties. Transfection of a molecular clone of the HEMV provirus into mouse-derived cell lines revealed that it is replication competent. Furthermore, host range and interference studies revealed a strictly ecotropic host range and the use of a receptor distinct from those used by other classical MLVs. The identity of nucleotide sequence of the long terminal repeats (LTRs) further suggested that HEMV is a relatively recent insertion into the M. spicilegus genome at the distal end of chromosome 7. Although unique to M. spicilegus, its presence in a homozygous state in three individuals obtained from different regions implies that it has been present long enough to become fixed in this species. Exhaustive phylogenetic analysis of all regions of the HEMV genome supported the previously assigned ancestral position of HEMV relative to other MLV-related viruses. Thus, HEMV is a relatively recent introduction into the Mus germ line but is representative of a relatively ancestral MLV group.

Demethylation of host-cell DNA at the site of avian retrovirus integration

The transcriptional activity of an integrated retroviral copy strongly depends on the adjacent host-cell DNA at the site of integration. Transcribed DNA loci as well as cis-acting sequences like enhancers or CpG islands usually permit expression of nearby integrated proviruses. In contrast, proviruses residing close to cellular silencers tend to transcriptional silencing and CpG methylation. Little is known, however, about the influence of provirus integration on the target sequence in the host genome. Here, we report interesting features of a simplified Rous sarcoma virus integrated into a non-transcribed hypermethylated DNA sequence in the Syrian hamster genome. After integration, CpG methylation of this sequence has been lost almost completely and hypomethylated DNA permits proviral transcription and hamster cell transformation by the proviral v-src oncogene. This, however, is not a stable state, and non-transformed revertants bearing transcriptionally silenced proviruses segregate with a high rate. The provirus silencing is followed by DNA methylation of both provirus regulatory regions and adjacent cellular sequences. This CpG methylation is very dense and resistant to the demethylation effects of 5-aza-2(')-deoxycytidine and/or trichostatin A. Our description exemplifies the capacity of retroviruses/retroviral vectors to overcome, at least transiently, negative position effects of DNA methylation at the site of integration.

Transcriptional suppression of in vitro-integrated human immunodeficiency virus type 1 does not correlate with proviral DNA methylation

Persistence of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) constitutes a major obstacle in the control of HIV-1 infection. Here we investigated whether the CpG methylation of the HIV-1 promoter can directly influence the expression of the HIV-1 genome and thereby contribute to the persistence and latency of HIV-1. The levels of CpG methylation in the promoter of HIV-1 were studied after bisulfite-induced modification of DNA in five Jurkat clonal cell lines transduced by an HIV-1 long terminal repeat (LTR)-driven retroviral vector and expressing enhanced green fluorescent protein (GFP) and in primary resting memory T cells challenged with HIV-1 or with an HIV-1-derived retroviral vector. Basal HIV-1 promoter activities were low or undetectable in three tested HIV-1 LTR-GFP clones, one of which encoded the Tat protein, and they reached medium or high levels in two other clones. The CpG dinucleotide that occurred in a latently infected clonal cell line 240 nucleotides upstream of the transcription start remained methylated after reactivation of HIV-1 transcription with 10 nM phorbol-12-myristate-13-acetate. In two clones showing a medium promoter activity and in resting memory T cells, the HIV-1 LTR was generally not methylated. Our results show that the methylation profiles of the HIV-1 LTR, including those present in latently infected cells, are low and do not correlate with the transcriptional activity. We suggest that, in a noncloned cellular population in which the HIV-1 proviruses are randomly integrated in the human genome, HIV-1 latency is imperfectly controlled by CpG methylation and is inherently accompanied by residual replication.

Efficient marking of neural stem cell-derived neurons with a modified murine embryonic stem cell virus, MESV2

Treatments for nervous system disorders that involve transplanting genetically modified neural stem cells may ultimately be feasible. As a step towards this therapeutic approach, a novel murine embryonic stem cell gammaretroviral vector was developed with features designed to optimize transgene expression in neural stem cells and to increase vector safety. All potential start sites of translation in the 5' leader were removed. These sites may compete with an inserted transgene for translation initiation, and also produce potentially immunogenic peptides. Further, all of the gag gene sequences were replaced with a well-defined constitutive transport element from avian leukemia virus to promote nuclear export of viral RNA, and to eliminate any homology between the vector and a murine leukemia virus-derived gag-pol packaging plasmid. Two versions of the virus were made in which EGFP expression was driven either by the Rous sarcoma virus U3 enhancer or by a combination of sequences from the Syn1 and Pgk-1 promoters. Both of these viruses efficiently transduced neural stem cells isolated from embryonic rat hippocampus, and robust EGFP expression was observed in neurons derived from these cells following differentiation in vitro.

CpG island protects Rous sarcoma virus-derived vectors integrated into nonpermissive cells from DNA methylation and transcriptional suppression

CpG islands are important in the protection of adjacent housekeeping genes from de novo DNA methylation and for keeping them in a transcriptionally active state. However, little is known about their capacity to protect heterologous genes and assure position-independent transcription of adjacent transgenes or retroviral vectors. To tackle this question, we have used the mouse aprt CpG island to flank a Rous sarcoma virus (RSV)-derived reporter vector and followed the transcriptional activity of integrated vectors. RSV is an avian retrovirus which does not replicate in mammalian cells because of several blocks at all levels of the replication cycle. Here we show that our RSV-derived reporter proviruses linked to the mouse aprt gene CpG island remain undermethylated and keep their transcriptional activity after stable transfection into both avian and nonpermissive mammalian cells. This effect is most likely caused by the protection from de novo methylation provided by the CpG island and not by enhancement of the promoter strength. Our results are consistent with previous finding of CpG islands in proximity to active but not inactive proviruses and support further investigation of the protection of the gene transfer vectors from DNA methylation.

Retroviruses in foreign species and the problem of provirus silencing

Retroviruses are known to integrate in the host cell genome as proviruses, and therefore they are prone to cell-mediated control at the transcriptional and posttranscriptional levels. This plays an important role especially after retrovirus heterotransmission to foreign species, but also to differentiated cells. In addition to host cell-mediated blocks in provirus expression, also so far undefined host specificities, deciding upon the pathogenic manifestation of retrovirus heterotransmission, are in play. In this respect, we discuss especially the occurrence of wasting disease and immunodeficiency syndrome, which we established also in avian species using avian leukosis virus subgroup C (ALV-C) inoculated in mid-embryogenesis in duck or chicken embryos. The problem of provirus downregulation in foreign species or in differentiated cells has been in the recent years approached experimentally. From a series of observations it became apparent that provirus downregulation is mediated by its methylation, especially in the region of proviral enhancer-promoter located in long terminal repeats (LTR). Several strategies have been devised in order to protect the provirus from methylation using LTR modification and/or introducing in the LTR sequence motifs acting as antimethylation tags. In such a way the expression of retroviruses and vectors in foreign species, as well as in differentiated cells, has been significantly improved. The complexity of the mechanisms involved in provirus downregulation and further possibilities to modulate it are discussed.