Multiple fates of L1 retrotransposition intermediates in cultured human cells

Long interspersed element 1 (LINE-1 or L1) is an abundant retrotransposon that comprises ∼17% of human DNA (43, 69). Most L1s are retrotransposition defective because they are 5′ truncated, contain internal rearrangements, or harbor mutations within their open reading frames (25, 43). However, the average human genome is estimated to contain ∼80 to 100 retrotransposition-competent L1s (RC-L1s), and approximately 10% of these elements are classified as highly active or “hot” (6, 63). Human RC-L1s are ∼6.0 kb and contain a 5′ untranslated region (UTR), two nonoverlapping open reading frames (ORF1 and ORF2), and a 3′ UTR that ends in a poly(A) tail (Fig. ​(Fig.1A)1A) (13, 53, 66). ORF1 encodes a 40-kDa nucleic acid binding protein (30, 31, 33), whereas ORF2 has the potential to encode a 150-kDa protein with demonstrated endonuclease (L1 EN) and reverse transcriptase (L1 RT) activities (15, 19, 22, 51). ORF2p also contains a cysteine-rich domain (CX3CX7HX4C) of unknown function (17, 54). Both proteins are required for retrotransposition in cis (54), which most probably occurs by a mechanism termed “target site primed reverse transcription” (TPRT) (19, 47, 54, 72). However, how L1 integration is completed remains a mystery. FIG. 1. Simple sequence alterations at the 5′ genomic DNA/L1 junction. A. Rationale of the assay. The 3′ UTR of a human RC-L1 was tagged with a reporter cassette designed to detect retrotransposition events. Open rectangles indicate L1 ORF1 and ... We recently developed a plasmid-based rescue system that allows the recovery of L1 insertions in cultured human HeLa cells with minimal influence from selective pressures that occur during genome evolution. We found that L1 retrotransposition is associated with various forms of genetic instability and that the nascent L1 cDNA can undergo recombination with endogenous L1 elements, resulting in the formation of chimeric L1s. Consistent findings by Symer et al., using a colon cell line (HCT116) with an essentially normal karyotype, have led to the hypothesis that L1 retrotransposition can lead to various types of genomic instability (21, 72). Here, we describe the analysis of 100 L1 retrotransposition events in HeLa cells derived from four previously characterized RC-L1s (L1.2A, LRE-2, L1.3, and L1RP). Consistent with previous studies, we have found that retrotransposition is associated with the generation of intrachromosomal deletions, the creation of chimeric L1 elements, and the addition of non-L1 nucleotides at the 5′ insertion junction (21, 56, 72). In addition, we have observed novel rearrangements, including the mobilization of U6 small uracil-rich nuclear RNA (U6 snRNA) to a new genomic location, the formation of intrachromosomal duplications, intra-L1 rearrangements, and the generation of a possible interchromosomal translocation. Finally, we have determined that the L1 RT can faithfully replicate its own transcript and has a base misincorporation error rate of ∼1/7,000 bases. Together, these data indicate that the resolution of L1 retrotransposition intermediates in transformed human cell lines can lead to a variety of genomic rearrangements and lead us to propose that host processes act to restrict L1 retrotransposition during integration, limiting the number of full-length L1s in the genome.