PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Marco Ricci
AU  - Valentina Peona
AU  - Cristian Taccioli
TI  - Involvement of non-LTR retrotransposons in the cancer incidence and lifespan of mammals
AID  - 10.1101/2021.09.27.461867
DP  - 2021 Jan 01
TA  - bioRxiv
PG  - 2021.09.27.461867
4099  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2021/09/28/2021.09.27.461867.short
4100  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2021/09/28/2021.09.27.461867.full
AB  - The natural occurrence of closely related species that show drastic differences in lifespan and cancer incidence raised the interest in finding the particular adaptations and genomic characteristics underlying the evolution of long lifespans. Studies on transposable elements (TEs) have more and more linked them to ageing and cancer development. In this study, we compared the TE content and dynamics in the genomes of four Rodent and six Chiroptera species that show very different lifespans and cancer susceptibility including the long-lived and refractory to cancer naked mole rat (Heterocephalus glaber), the long-lived fruit bats (Pteropus vampyrus, Rousettus aegypticaus) and the short-lived velvety free-tailed bat (Molossus molossus). By analysing the patterns of recent TE accumulation (TEs that are potentially currently active) in high-quality genome assemblies, we found that the shared genomic characteristics between long-lived species that are refractory to cancer, is the strong suppression, or negative selection against the accumulation, of non-LTR retrotransposons. All the short-lived species did show a recent accumulation of these TEs. Non-LTR retrotransposons have been often found to take part in the immune response of the host against viral infections, but their dysregulation can lead to phenomena of “sterile inflammation” and “inflammageing”. Therefore, we hypothesise that the uncontrolled non-LTR retrotransposon activity is an important factor explaining the evolution of shorter lifespans in both Rodents and Chiroptera species and potentially in all mammals. Finally, these results suggest that non-LTR retrotransposons can be agents promoting cancer and ageing in mammals thus they may be targets of future oncological therapies.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.