The contribution of HERV‐E clone 4‐1 and other HERV‐E members to the pathogenesis of rheumatic autoimmune diseases

Human endogenous retroviruses (HERV)‐E consist of a family of more than 1300 elements, stably integrated in the human genome. Some of them are full‐length proviruses able to synthesize the viral proteins gag, pol and env. The reactivation of HERV‐E elements has been associated to placentation, cancer and autoimmunity. In this narrative review, we aimed to report the status of the art concerning the involvement of HERV‐E in rheumatic autoimmune...