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REVIEW article

Front. Cell. Infect. Microbiol.
Sec. Molecular Viral Pathogenesis
Volume 14 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fcimb.2024.1439292

Human endogenous retroviruses and exogenous viral infections

Provisionally accepted
Chenxuan Bao Chenxuan Bao 1Qing Gao Qing Gao 1Huayuan Xiang Huayuan Xiang 1Yuxuan Shen Yuxuan Shen 2Qiaoqiao Chen Qiaoqiao Chen 1Qianqian Gao Qianqian Gao 1Mengyi Zhang Mengyi Zhang 1Wenyuan He Wenyuan He 1Lingxiang Mao Lingxiang Mao 1*
  • 1 Department of Laboratory Medicine, Affiliated Kunshan Hospital of Jiangsu University, Kunshan, China
  • 2 Medical College, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, Jiangsu Province, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    The human genome harbors many endogenous retroviral elements, known as human endogenous retroviruses (HERVs), which have been integrated into the genome during evolution due to infections by exogenous retroviruses. Accounting for up to 8% of the human genome, HERVs are tightly regulated by the host and are implicated in various physiological and pathological processes. Aberrant expression of HERVs has been observed in numerous studies on exogenous viral infections. In this review, we focus on elucidating the potential roles of HERVs during various exogenous viral infections and further discuss their implications in antiviral immunity.

    Keywords: Human endogenous retrovirus (HERVs), Virus infection, antiviral immunity, active immunity, herv-k, HERV-W

    Received: 27 May 2024; Accepted: 03 Sep 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Bao, Gao, Xiang, Shen, Chen, Gao, Zhang, He and Mao. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Lingxiang Mao, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Affiliated Kunshan Hospital of Jiangsu University, Kunshan, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.