LINE1 retrotransposons are autonomous mobile DNA elements that represent 17% of the
human genome and are the only active variant of transposition elements in human. The
LINE1 gene contains the transcript for three proteins: ORF0p, ORF1p and ORF2p. The
latter two are the main building elements in the assembly of the ribonucleoprotein
complex, and they are connected by their own mRNA. The complex is important for
active retrotransposition and introduction of their own DNA to a new place on the
genome. The transfer of the complex to the nucleus is not completely known, but it has
been confirmed that it travels during cell division, when the integrity of the nuclear
envelope is reduced. The presence of the LINE1 retrotransposon was also confirmed in
somatic neuronal cells, which means that it can also be transferred through the nuclear
envelope. One potential way is with nuclear importins, called karyopherins. The transport
complex consists of the cargo, karyopherin α, which recognizes the cargo, and
karyopherin β1, which is responsible for binding to karyopherin α and transport through
the nuclear pore. In the first part of the master's thesis, we isolated the proteins that are
necessary to perform the nuclear import assay (NIA). We isolated ORF1p, all seven
karyopherins α, and karyopherin β1 with GST-tag. In the second part, we wanted to check
the interactions if there are any between ORF1p and karyopherins α. For this purpose, we
checked with co-immunoprecipitation whether overexpressed ORF1p-FLAG binds to
endogenous karyopherins α. The results did not confirm a mutual interaction between
ORF1p and karyopherins α. In the third part, we tested individual karyopherins α as
potential ORF1p transporters to nucleus. In the nuclear transport assay, we washed
cytoplasm from mammalian HeLa cells. Only ORF1p and selected karyopherin α and β1
were added. Individual proteins were localized with antibodies and mutual colocalization
showed that karyopherins α3 and α4 are nuclear transporters of ORF1p. ORF1p was
located outside the nucleus before NIA assay, but with addition of karyopherins α3 and
α4 was mostly found in the nucleus. An important factor in the test was also the addition
of energy as ATP, which was crucial for a successful transfer. With nuclear pore inhibitor
WGA, we proved that the transfer of ORF1p through the nuclear pores is possible even
in non-dividing cells. In future research, it would be necessary to
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