Figure 5: Microvesicles are enriched in retrotransposon elements and can mediate horizontal gene transfer.
From: Tumour microvesicles contain retrotransposon elements and amplified oncogene sequences
Retrotransposon elements were quantified in cell RNA and exoRNA from three medulloblastoma (D425, D384 and D458), one GBM (11/5), one melanoma (0106) and one human fibroblast (HF19) line. The ratio of RNA abundances for (a) L1, (b) Alu and (c) HERV-K in microvesicles versus cells is shown, with RNA levels normalized to the housekeeping gene GAPDH. The relative ratios are presented as the average±s.e.m. (n=3–6). Enrichment of retrotransposons in either cells (y<0) or microvesicles (y>0) is expressed as log2 values. (d) HUVECs were exposed to medulloblastoma microvesicles (D384) and their expression level of HERV-K RNA (normalized to GAPDH) was analysed by qRT-PCR over 72 h following exposure and plotted as fold change compared with non-infected cells (MOCK). P-values were calculated using the two-tailed t-test, comparing levels to MOCK infected cells (*P<0.05, **P<0.01).
