AUTHOR=Bustamante Rivera Yomara Y. , Brütting Christine , Schmidt Caroline , Volkmer Ines , Staege Martin S. 

TITLE=Endogenous Retrovirus 3 – History, Physiology, and Pathology

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Microbiology

VOLUME=8

YEAR=2018

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2017.02691

DOI=10.3389/fmicb.2017.02691

ISSN=1664-302X

ABSTRACT=<p>Endogenous viral elements (EVE) seem to be present in all eukaryotic genomes. The composition of EVE varies between different species. The endogenous retrovirus 3 (ERV3) is one of these elements that is present only in humans and other Catarrhini. Conservation of ERV3 in most of the investigated Catarrhini and the expression pattern in normal tissues suggest a putative physiological role of ERV3. On the other hand, ERV3 has been implicated in the pathogenesis of auto-immunity and cancer. In the present review we summarize knowledge about this interesting EVE. We propose the model that expression of ERV3 (and probably other EVE loci) under pathological conditions might be part of a metazoan SOS response.</p>