News: Ancient Viral DNA Plays a Role in... (The Scientist) - Behind the headlines
In the news
Media coverage of health and science topics
Ancient Viral DNA Plays a Role in Human Disease and Development
Viral remnants make up 8 percent of the human genome, and a new study finds that these sequences are still active in healthy people.
Read more at The Scientist
Behind the headlines
Research findings and data from the National Library of Medicine
PubMed articles
Widespread expression of the ancient HERV-K (HML-2) provirus group in normal human tissues
Human endogenous retrovirus (HERV) transcripts are known to be highly expressed in cancers, yet their activity in nondiseased tissue is largely unknown. Using the GTEx RN …
Initial sequencing and analysis of the human genome
The human genome holds an extraordinary trove of information about human development, physiology, medicine and evolution. Here we report the results of an international c …
ICTV Virus Taxonomy Profile: Retroviridae 2021
Viruses in the family Retroviridae are found in a wide variety of vertebrate hosts. Enveloped virions are 80-100 nm in diameter with an inner core containing the v …
Origins and evolutionary consequences of ancient endogenous retroviruses
Retroviruses infect a broad range of vertebrate hosts that includes amphibians, reptiles, fish, birds and mammals. In addition, a typical vertebrate genome contains thous …
Use of endogenous retroviral sequences (ERVs) and structural markers for retroviral phylogenetic inference and taxonomy
Pol similarities and other structural traits contribute to a better understanding of retroviral phylogeny. "Global" genomic properties useful in phylogenies are i.) trans …
Chimpanzee-specific endogenous retrovirus generates genomic variations in the chimpanzee genome
Endogenous retroviruses (ERVs), eukaryotic transposable elements, exist as proviruses in vertebrates including primates and contribute to genomic changes during the evolu …
Gorillas have been infected with the HERV-K (HML-2) endogenous retrovirus much more recently than humans and chimpanzees
Human endogenous retrovirus-K (HERV-K) human mouse mammary tumor virus-like 2 (HML-2) is the most recently active endogenous retrovirus group in humans, and the only grou …
Mechanisms of HERV-K (HML-2) Transcription during Human Mammary Epithelial Cell Transformation
Increasing evidence suggests that repetitive elements may play a role in host gene regulation, particularly through the donation of alternative promoters, enhancers, spli …
Human endogenous retroviruses in development and disease
Human endogenous retroviruses (HERVs) represent ∼8% of human genome, deriving from exogenous retroviral infections of germ line cells occurred millions of years ago and b …
Identification, characterization, and comparative genomic distribution of the HERV-K (HML-2) group of human endogenous retroviruses
Our analysis has found and corrected several errors in the annotation of HML-2 elements in the human genome, including mislabeling of a newly identified group called HML- …
Mouse mammary tumor virus molecular biology and oncogenesis
Mouse mammary tumor virus (MMTV), which was discovered as a milk-transmitted, infectious cancer-inducing agent in the 1930s, has been used since that time as an animal mo …
An updated review of simian betaretrovirus (SRV) in macaque hosts
This review is an updated summary of nearly 30 years of SRV history and provides new and critical findings of original research accomplished in the last 5 years including …
Evidence that HERV-K is the endogenous retrovirus sequence that codes for the human teratocarcinoma-derived retrovirus HTDV
Human teratocarcinoma-derived viruses (HTDV) are retrovirus-like particles that are regularly observed by electron microscopy at low frequency in cell lines established f …
HERV-K Modulates the Immune Response in ALS Patients
Human endogenous retrovirus (HERV)-K env-su glycoprotein has been documented in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), where HERV-K env-su 19-37 antibody levels …
Do Human Endogenous Retroviruses Contribute to Multiple Sclerosis, and if So, How?
The gammaretroviral human endogenous retrovirus (HERV) families MRSV/HERV-W and HERV-H (including the closely related HERV-Fc1) are associated with an increased risk of m …
Human Endogenous Retroviruses as Pathogenic Factors in the Development of Schizophrenia
Schizophrenia is a complex disorder, characterized by the interplay between genetic and environmental factors. Human endogenous retroviruses (HERVs), genetic elements tha …
Inhibition of human endogenous retrovirus-K by antiretroviral drugs
In summary, we identified several FDA approved antiretroviral drugs that can effectively inhibit HERV-K. These antiretrovirals may open new prospects for studying HERV-K …
Immunotherapeutic potential of anti-human endogenous retrovirus-K envelope protein antibodies in targeting breast tumors
Monoclonal antibodies against HERV-K env protein show potential as novel immunotherapeutic agents for breast cancer therapy.
Genetic Engineering of T Cells to Target HERV-K, an Ancient Retrovirus on Melanoma
Adoptive cellular immunotherapy with HERV-K env-specific CAR(+) T cells represents a clinically appealing treatment strategy for advanced-stage melanoma and provides an a …
From ancestral infectious retroviruses to bona fide cellular genes: role of the captured syncytins in placentation
During their replication, infectious retroviruses insert a reverse-transcribed cDNA copy of their genome, a "provirus", into the genome of their host. If the infected cel …
Positional cloning of the mouse retrovirus restriction gene Fv1
Vertebrate evolution has taken place against a background of constant retrovirus infection, and much of the mammalian genome consists of endogenous retrovirus-like elemen …
Refrex-1, a soluble restriction factor against feline endogenous and exogenous retroviruses
The host defense against viral infection is acquired during the coevolution or symbiosis of the host and pathogen. Several cellular factors that restrict retroviral infec …
The transdominant endogenous retrovirus enJS56A1 associates with and blocks intracellular trafficking of Jaagsiekte sheep retrovirus Gag
The sheep genome harbors approximately 20 endogenous retroviruses (enJSRVs) highly related to the exogenous Jaagsiekte sheep retrovirus (JSRV). One of the enJSRV loci, en …
Co-option of an endogenous retrovirus envelope for host defense in hominid ancestors
Endogenous retroviral sequences provide a molecular fossil record of ancient infections whose analysis might illuminate mechanisms of viral extinction. A close relative o …
Related content
Similar articles
Reviews
People also viewed
Also of interest
Additional recent and related news
Our Favorite Genetics Stories of 2022
This year’s stories highlight the expanding versatility of genetic techniques and the increasing utility of such research in all life science fields.
Biden Names Geneticist Eric Lander as Top Science Adviser
If confirmed, Lander will head the Office of Science and Technology Policy, a position that President Donald Trump left vacant for 18 months at the beginning of his term.
Can Viruses in the Genome Cause Disease?
Clinical trials that target human endogenous retroviruses to treat multiple sclerosis, ALS, and other ailments are underway, but many questions remain about how these sequences may disrupt our biology.
Researchers identify possible target for a type of sporadic ALS
Reactivation of HERVs have been implicated in several neurodegenerative diseases.
Ancient viral DNA may help humans fight infections
Researchers found that stretches of viral DNA long embedded in the human genome can produce proteins that help block infection by viruses.