{"doi":"10.3390/genes2020360","title":"A Reverse Transcriptase-Dependent Mechanism Is Essential for Murine Preimplantation Development","abstract":"<jats:p>LINE-1 (Long Interspersed Nuclear elements) and HERVs (Human Endogenous Retroviruses) are two families of retrotransposons which together account for about 28% of the human genome. Genes harbored within LINE-1 and HERV retrotransposons, particularly that encoding the reverse transcriptase (RT) enzyme, are generally expressed at low levels in differentiated cells, but their expression is up-regulated in embryonic tissues and transformed cells. Here we review evidence indicating that the LINE-1-encoded RT plays regulatory roles in early embryonic development. Indeed, antisense-mediated inhibition of expression of a highly expressed LINE-1 family in mouse zygotes caused developmental arrest at the two- or four-cell embryo stages. Development is also arrested when the embryo endogenous RT activity is pharmacologically inhibited by nevirapine, an RT inhibitor currently employed in AIDS treatment. The arrest of embryonic development is irreversible even after RT inhibition is removed and it is associated with subverted gene expression profiles. These data indicate an early requirement for LINE-1-encoded RT to support early developmental progression. Consistent with this, recent findings indicate that a reverse transcription wave is triggered in the zygote a few hours after fertilization and is propagated at least through the first two rounds of cell division. On the whole these findings suggest that reverse transcription is strictly required in early embryos as a key component of a novel RT-dependent mechanism that regulated the proper unfolding of the developmental program.</jats:p>","journal":"Genes","year":2011,"id":654592,"datarank":0.4566783656585135,"base_score":3.044522437723423,"endowment":3.044522437723423,"self_citation_contribution":0.4566783656585135,"citation_network_contribution":0.0,"self_endowment_contribution":0.4566783656585135,"citer_contribution":0.0,"corpus_percentile":null,"corpus_rank":null,"citation_count":20,"citer_count":0,"citers_with_citation_signal":0,"citers_with_endowment":0,"datacite_reuse_total":0,"is_dataset":false,"is_dataset_confidence":null,"is_data_producer":false,"deposit_databanks":null,"is_oa":false,"file_count":0,"downloads":0,"has_version_chain":false,"published_date":null,"fair_score":null,"fair_percentile":null,"algorithm_id":"datarank_citation_only_1hop_v6","ranking_scope":"data_only","authors":[{"id":1708384,"name":"Patrizia Vitullo","orcid":null,"position":1,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1708385,"name":"Angela Curatolo","orcid":null,"position":2,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1708386,"name":"Corrado Spadafora","orcid":null,"position":3,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1708383,"name":"Ilaria Sciamanna","orcid":null,"position":0,"is_corresponding":false}],"reference_count":0,"raw_metadata":{"has_enrichment":true,"resolved":true,"title":"A Reverse Transcriptase-Dependent Mechanism Is Essential for Murine Preimplantation Development","abstract":"<jats:p>LINE-1 (Long Interspersed Nuclear elements) and HERVs (Human Endogenous Retroviruses) are two families of retrotransposons which together account for about 28% of the human genome. Genes harbored within LINE-1 and HERV retrotransposons, particularly that encoding the reverse transcriptase (RT) enzyme, are generally expressed at low levels in differentiated cells, but their expression is up-regulated in embryonic tissues and transformed cells. Here we review evidence indicating that the LINE-1-encoded RT plays regulatory roles in early embryonic development. Indeed, antisense-mediated inhibition of expression of a highly expressed LINE-1 family in mouse zygotes caused developmental arrest at the two- or four-cell embryo stages. Development is also arrested when the embryo endogenous RT activity is pharmacologically inhibited by nevirapine, an RT inhibitor currently employed in AIDS treatment. The arrest of embryonic development is irreversible even after RT inhibition is removed and it is associated with subverted gene expression profiles. These data indicate an early requirement for LINE-1-encoded RT to support early developmental progression. Consistent with this, recent findings indicate that a reverse transcription wave is triggered in the zygote a few hours after fertilization and is propagated at least through the first two rounds of cell division. On the whole these findings suggest that reverse transcription is strictly required in early embryos as a key component of a novel RT-dependent mechanism that regulated the proper unfolding of the developmental program.</jats:p>","is_dataset_classified":null,"base_score":3.044522437723423,"endowment":3.044522437723423,"datacite_reuse_total":0,"file_count":0,"downloads":0,"views":0,"has_version_chain":false,"is_dataset":false,"is_oa":false,"pmid":"24710196","pmcid":"PMC3924816","openalex_id":"https://openalex.org/W2004125719","authors":[],"funders":[],"total_grants":0,"fwci":0.3737,"citation_percentile":0.70867008,"influential_citations":0,"citation_trend":[{"year":2014,"count":1},{"year":2015,"count":1},{"year":2016,"count":4},{"year":2017,"count":3},{"year":2018,"count":1},{"year":2019,"count":1},{"year":2020,"count":2},{"year":2021,"count":3},{"year":2022,"count":1},{"year":2023,"count":1},{"year":2024,"count":1},{"year":2025,"count":1}],"oa_status":"gold","license":"cc-by","oa_locations":[{"url":"https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4425/2/2/360/pdf?version=1305715041","host_type":"journal"},{"url":"https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4425/2/2/360/pdf?version=1305715041","host_type":"publisher"},{"url":"https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4425/2/2/360/pdf","host_type":"publisher"},{"url":"https://doi.org/10.3390/genes2020360","host_type":"journal"},{"url":"https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24710196","host_type":"repository"},{"url":"https://doaj.org/article/8abb86ac93dc4e25a1110968725003ff","host_type":"repository"},{"url":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/3924816","host_type":"repository"},{"url":"https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/genes2020360","host_type":"repository"},{"url":"https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC3924816","host_type":"Europe_PMC"},{"url":"https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC3924816?pdf=render","host_type":"Europe_PMC"}],"fields_of_study":["Chromosomal and Genetic Variations","CRISPR and Genetic Engineering","Animal Genetics and Reproduction"],"mesh_terms":[],"keywords":["Retrotransposon","Zygote","Biology","Reverse transcriptase","Endogenous retrovirus","Embryonic stem cell","Embryo","Genetics","Embryogenesis","Gene","Cell biology","Genome","RNA","Transposable element"],"sdg_mappings":[{"sdg_number":0,"sdg_label":"Good health and well-being"}],"linked_datasets":[],"clinical_trials":[],"software_tools":[],"database_accessions":[],"source":"live","citation_network_status":"fetched"},"created_at":"2026-08-11T07:25:52.770124Z","pmid":null,"pmcid":null,"fwci":null,"citation_percentile":null,"influential_citations":0,"oa_status":null,"license":null,"views":0,"total_file_size_bytes":0,"version_count":0,"fair_f":null,"fair_a":null,"fair_i":null,"fair_r":null,"fair_zscore":null,"fair_rationale":null,"fair_model":null,"fair_agent_version":null,"fair_fulltext_source":null,"fair_has_llm":null,"fair_computed_at":null,"clinical_trials":[],"software_tools":[],"db_accessions":[],"linked_datasets":[],"topics":[]}