Article
Implication of Human Endogenous Retroviruses in the Development of Autoimmune Diseases
1 Jul 2010
Abstract excerpt
Retroviruses can exist in an endogenous form, in which viral sequences are integrated into the human germ line and are vertically transmitted in a Mendelian fashion. Human endogenous retroviruses (HERVs), probably representing footprints of ancient germ-cell retroviral infections, occupy about 1% of the human genome. Some HERVs emerged in the genome over 25 million years ago, while others have appeared rather...