Human Endogenous Retroviruses in Neurological Diseases

HERVs, retroviral sequences integrated into the genome during evolution, are now known to represent 8% of the human genome. These were recently shown to comprise copies that retain potential to express retroviral proteins or particles, and can be abnormally expressed in autoimmune, neurodegenerative, chronic inflammatory diseases, and cancer. Environmental factors such as specific viral infections were shown to potently activate HERVs under...