The Evolution, Characterization, and Role of Human Endogenous Retroviruses in Health and Diseases

Human endogenous retroviruses (HERVs), stemming from exogenous retrovirus infection during the evolution of humans and subsequent integration into the host genome, account for approximately 8% of the human genome. HERVs have been co-evolving with the host. Currently, the vast majority of HERVs lack infectious capacity due to the accumulation of insertions, deletions, and mutations as well as the recombination deletion of internal coding regions. HERVs have attracted increasing attention over the years, especially since the Human Genome Project. Many pieces of research have been performed to explore their characterization, evolution, and biological function. As a type of transposable element (TE), HERVs can provide favorable conditions to regulate the expression of their adjacent genes. Emerging evidence suggests that HERVs which are distributed throughout the human genome, have been a rich source of regulatory elements in the human genome, and played crucial roles in human placental morphogenesis, immune response, senescence, cancer progression, and neurodegenerative diseases. For example, HML-2 is the most biologically active subgroup of the HERV-K family, and the expression of its members has been associated with many cancer types. A greater understanding of the characteristics and roles of HERVs will provide new insights into their potential utility as diagnostic tools and therapeutic targets for a variety of diseases.

Increasing evidence indicates the potential crucial roles of HERVs in human physiological and pathological activities. However, our understanding of the mechanism by which these HERV elements function in related pathways of health and disease associations is still far from adequate. The current Research Topic focuses on the evolution, characterization, and functional mechanisms of HERVs, with the aim of exploring the related pathways involving HERVs in health and diseases.

In this Research Topic, we encourage authors to contribute high-quality Original Research, Review, Mini-Review, Methods, and Perspective articles that include but are not limited to the following topics:
1. HERVs evolutionary biology, including the discovery, origination, and evolution of HERV.
2. HERVs reaction and resurrection.
3. HERVs regulation, epigenetic control, and host-ERV interaction.
4. Immune defense, virology, animal models, fundamental mechanisms of HERVs in health and diseases, and clinical science.
5. Other research related to retroviruses.
Novel Case Report articles related to HERVs are also welcome in the Research Topic.