title: Involvement of endogenous retroviruses in prion diseases.
abstract: For millions of years, vertebrates have been continuously exposed to infection by retroviruses. Ancient retroviral infection of germline cells resulted in the formation and accumulation of inherited retrovirus sequences in host genomes. These inherited retroviruses are referred to as endogenous retroviruses (ERVs), and recent estimates have revealed that a significant portion of animal genomes is made up of ERVs. Although various host factors have suppressed ERV activation, both positive and negative functions have been reported for some ERVs in normal and abnormal physiological conditions, such as in disease states. Similar to other complex diseases, ERV activation has been observed in prion diseases, and this review will discuss the potential involvement of ERVs in prion diseases.
authors.affiliation: Ilsong Institute of Life Science, Hallym University, Anyang, Gyeonggi-do 431-060, Republic of Korea. jjung0301@hallym.ac.kr.
authors.forename: Yun-Jung
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, College of Medicine, Hallym University, Chuncheon, Gangwon-do 200-702, Republic of Korea. bhjeong@hallym.ac.kr.
authors.forename: Byung-Hoon
authors.initials: BH
authors.lastname: Jeong
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, College of Medicine, Hallym University, Chuncheon, Gangwon-do 200-702, Republic of Korea. bhjeong@hallym.ac.kr.
authors.forename: Eun-Kyung
authors.initials: EK
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.affiliation: Ilsong Institute of Life Science, Hallym University, Anyang, Gyeonggi-do 431-060, Republic of Korea. yskim@hallym.ac.kr.
authors.forename: Yong-Sun
authors.initials: YS
authors.lastname: Kim