Transposable Elements (TE)

Cited from the paper "Epigenetic interplay between mouse endogenous retroviruses and host genes"

Transposable elements (TEs) are DNA sequences able to move from one chromosome location to another, either through an RNA intermediate (retrotransposons) or simply by excising their DNA copies (DNA transposons). Retrotransposons can be further classified into long terminal repeat (LTR)-containing TEs (LTR retrotransposons and endogenous retroviruses (ERV)) or non-LTR retrotransposons (long and short interspersed nuclear elements, LINEs and SINEs).

IAPs and Early transposon/Mus musculus type D (ETn/MusDs) are two families of mouse ERVs known to be repressed by DNA methylation and are responsible for the majority of new insertional mutations in mice.