Expression analysis of Porcine Endogenous Retroviruses (PERVs) in Korean native pig organs

Pigs have anatomically and physiologically very similar to human and because of this, pigs are the possible xenotransplantation donors for human organs. PERVs (Porcine Endogenous Retroviruses) are known to be one of the possible obstacles for using porcine organs regardless of the immunological barriers. In order to understand the expression patterns of PERVs in Korean native pigs, we investigated PERV expressions in porcine liver, heart, spleen, and lung samples. After RNA extraction, two types of specific PERV envelope genes (ENV-A and ENV-B) were amplified using specific primers by RT-PCR. The results indicated that the variable PERV expressions were observed in inconsistent patterns among animals and tissues. The PERV expressions were verified with semi-quantitative real-time PCR with three replicates. Even though, these results confirm the previous findings that the PERVs were differentially expressed between animals and tissues. These results also give some valuable information for xenotransplantation when using the Korean native pigs as the organ donor.