title: Endogenous Retroelements in Cellular Senescence and Related Pathogenic Processes: Promising Drug Targets in Age-Related Diseases.
abstract: Endogenous retroelements (ERs) represent nearly half of the human genome. Considered up to recent years as "functionless" DNA sequences, they are now known to be involved in important cellular functions such as stress response and generation of non coding regulatory RNAs. Moreover, an increasing amount of data supports the idea of ERs as key players in cellular senescence and in different senescence-related pathogenic cellular processes, including those leading to inflammation, cancer and major age-related multifactorial diseases. The involvement of ERs in these biological mechanisms can suggest new therapeutic strategies in neoplasms, inflammatory/autoimmune diseases and in different age-related pathologies, such as macular degeneration, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and major age-related neurodegenerative disorders. The therapeutic approaches which can be suggested range from a set of well-known, common drugs that have been shown to modulate ERs activity, to immune therapy against ER-derived tumor antigens, to more challenging strategies such as those based on anti-ERs RNA interference.
authors.affiliation: Advanced Technology Center for Aging Research, Scientific and Technological Pole, Italian National Institute of Health and Science on Aging (INRCA), Ancona, Italy. m.cardelli@inrca.it.
authors.forename: Maurizio
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cardelli
authors.forename: Robertina
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Giacconi
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Malavolta
authors.forename: Mauro
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Provinciali
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology*; D000818:Animals; D001327:Autoimmune Diseases / Q000235:genetics; D016922:Cellular Senescence / Q000187:drug effects*; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D006801:Humans; D008268:Macular Degeneration / Q000235:genetics; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics; D019636:Neurodegenerative Diseases / Q000235:genetics; D018626:Retroelements / Q000187:drug effects
chemical_list: D018626:Retroelements