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Updated: Aug 15, 2025

Microarray-based Identification of Individual HERV Loci Expression: Application to Biomarker Discovery in Prostate Cancer
Published on: November 2, 2013
Human Endogenous Retroviruses: Friends and Foes in Urology Clinics
Sun-Kyung Lee1, Seung Hyun Kim1, Joohong Ahnn1
1Department of Life Science, Research Institute for Natural Sciences, College of Natural Sciences, Hanyang University, Seoul, Korea.
Abstract:
Human endogenous retroviruses (HERVs) are originated from ancient exogenous retroviruses, which infected human germ line cells millions of years ago. HERVs have generally lost their replication and retrotransposition abilities, but adopted physiological roles in human biology. Though mostly inactive, HERVs can be reactivated by internal and external factors such as inflammations and environmental conditions. Their aberrant expression can participate in various human malignancies with complex etiology. This review describes the features and functions of HERVs in urological subjects, such as urological cancers and human reproduction. It provides the current knowledge of the HERVs and useful insights helping practice in urology clinics.
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