Retroelements are genomic parasites which make up ~42% of the human genome and 38% of the mouse genome. Most are degenerate, but a large number have relatively intact promoter elements, suggesting that they are capable of transcription. Transcriptionally active retroelements can perturb normal transcription units in their vicinity through a variety of mechanisms, leading to phenotypic effects and in some cases disease. This phenomenon of transcriptional interference has been observed in organisms as diverse as maize, Drosophila, and the mouse. We analysed the extent of retroelement transcription in normal and diseased tissues, by searching the mouse and human EST databases for transcripts originating in retroelement promoters, and found a large number of transcripts from LINEs, SINEs and ERVs. Retroelement transcripts were found to be initiated in both sense and antisense orientations, and to be equally as common in normal and diseased tissue. Several of these transcripts were chimeric, appearing to initiate in retroelements and reading through to cellular genes, suggestive of transcriptional interference. We have used transposon display to identify and recover retroelement transcripts in the mouse. Transcripts initiated in LINE, SINE and ERV promoters are numerous, and many are chimeric with cellular genes. Although the numbers of recovered chimeric transcripts are too large to permit rigorous analysis of more than a small proportion, some of those we have studied further appear to be authentic transcripts that may represent interference with the canonical promoters of the genes in question. Our results suggest that transcriptional interference by retroelements may be a relatively common occurrence in mammals.

Les rétrotransposons LTR sont des éléments transposables très répandus chez les eucaryotes. Comme les rétrovirus, ils se répliquent par transcription inverse de leur ARN en ADNc, qui est intégré dans le génome hôte par leur propre intégrase (IN). Des études de séquençage à haut débit ont clairement établi que l'intégration ne se fait pas de façon aléatoire dans l'ensemble du génome de la cellule hôte. Des connaissances approfondies sur la biologie rétrovirale ont été acquises grâce à leur étude sur la levure utilisant le Ty1 LTR-retrotransposon comme modèle de travail. Le rétrotransposon Ty1 de la levure Saccharomyces cerevisiae intègre en amont des gènes de classe III, les gènes transcrits par l'ARN polymérase III (Pol III). Des données récentes ont révélé l'importance de l'AC40, une sous-unité de Pol III dans ce ciblage. Une interaction entre le Ty1 IN et l'AC40 est nécessaire pour le choix du site d'intégration des gènes Pol III. Néanmoins, le mécanisme moléculaire reste largement inconnu. Afin d'obtenir une vision globale de l'ensemble du phénomène qui se produit sur le site d'intégration, nous aimerions déterminer de manière exhaustive les protéines qui interagissent avec Ty1 IN et analyser leur rôle dans l'intégration de Ty1 et la transcription de l'ARN Pol III. Pour atteindre cet objectif, nous avons développé des approches protéomiques pour identifier de nouveaux partenaires cellulaires Ty1 intégraux. Nous avons identifié plusieurs nouveaux partenaires Ty1 IN qui semblent intéressants et leur rôle moléculaire dans la rétrotransposition de Ty1 sera étudié. Cependant, dans le cadre de mon doctorat, j'ai particulièrement travaillé à déchiffrer le rôle moléculaire de la protéine caséine kinase II dans la rétrotransposition de Ty1. / LTR-retrotransposons are widespread transposable elements in eukaryotes. Like retroviruses, they replicate by reverse transcription of their RNA into cDNA, which is integrated into the host genome by their own integrase (IN). High-throughput sequencing studies clearly established that integration does not occur randomly throughout the host-cell genome. Deep insights on retroviral biology have been gained by their study in yeast using the Ty1 LTR-retrotransposon as a working model. The Ty1 retrotransposon of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae integrates upstream of class III genes, the genes transcribed by RNA polymerase III (Pol III). Recent data revealed the importance of AC40, a Pol III subunit in this targeting. An interaction between the Ty1 IN and AC40 is necessary for integration site choice at the Pol III genes. Nevertheless, the molecular mechanism remains largely unknown. To obtain a global view of the entire phenomenon that occurs on the integration site we would like to exhaustively determine the proteins that interact with Ty1 IN and analyze their role in both Ty1 integration and RNA Pol III transcription. To achieve this goal, we have developed proteomic approaches to identify new Ty1 integrase cellular partners. We have identified several novel Ty1 IN partners that seem interesting and their molecular role in Ty1 retrotransposition will be studied. However, in the tenure of my PhD, I have particularly worked to decipher the molecular role of the casein kinase II protein in Ty1 retrotransposition.