Modulation of host genes by mammalian transposable elements.

Abstract

Interspersed repetitive sequences are major components of eukaryotic genomes. They comprise about 50% of the mammalian genome. They interact with the whole genome and influence its evolution. They do this in many ways, e.g. by serving as recombination hotspots, providing a mechanism for genomic shuffling and a source of 'ready-to-use' motifs for new transcriptional regulatory elements, polyadenylation signals, and protein-coding sequences. In this review we discuss the consequences of exaptation of sequences originated in tansposable elements with focus on events that influence protein coding genes.