To better understand the molecular signaling events leading to
systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) and
multiple organ failure (MOF), changes in gene expression profiles after
burn injury were investigated by differential display. C57BLKS/J mice were subjected to 18% total body surface area (TBSA) full-thickness
burn and various tissues were harvested at multiple time points after injury. Initial differential display revealed that retroviral transcripts similar to the envelope sequence of
murine AIDS (
MAIDS) virus were rapidly and transiently up-regulated after injury. Subsequent RT-PCR and
DNA sequencing analyses confirmed the transient up-regulation of retroviral sequences similar to those of the
MAIDS virus. In addition, the presence and induction of the subgenomic envelope transcripts of these
MAIDS virus-related sequences, including a novel double spliced message, were identified after
burn injury. These data suggest that the transcriptional efficiency of the integrated retroviral
DNA and reactivation of defective
MAIDS virus-related sequences may be affected by pathophysiological signals, such as
burn injury. The elevated expression of these
MAIDS virus-related retroviral sequences may affect the transcriptional activities of the flanking genes at the integration sites and may be a cause of altered local and systemic immune responses to
burn-related stress.