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Updated: Mar 26, 2026

Microarray-based Identification of Individual HERV Loci Expression: Application to Biomarker Discovery in Prostate Cancer
Published on: November 2, 2013
Human endogenous retroviruses: friend or foe?
1Division of Infection & Immunity, University College London, London, UK.
Abstract:
The integration of proviral DNA into host chromosomal DNA as an obligatory step in the replication cycle of retroviruses is a natural event of genetic recombination between virus and host. When integration occurs in cells of the germ line, it results in mendelian inheritance of viral sequences that we call endogenous retroviruses (ERV) and HERV for humans. HERVs and host often establish a symbiotic relationship, especially in the placenta and in pluripotent embryonic stem cells, but HERVs occasionally have deleterious consequences for the host. This special issue of APMIS features the fascinating relationships between HERV and humans in health and disease.
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