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Updated: Jul 29, 2026

Microarray-based Identification of Individual HERV Loci Expression: Application to Biomarker Discovery in Prostate Cancer
Published on: November 3, 2013
The Y chromosome: a graveyard for endogenous retroviruses
C Kjellman1, H O Sjögren, B Widegren
1Department of Tumor Immunology, Wallenberg Laboratory, University of Lund, Sweden.
Abstract:
We have isolated 20 different human endogenous retroviruses (ERV) related to ERV3, Hsrirt and Humer 4-1. Phylogeny and the presence of these ERV among different primates were determined by computer and Southern blot analyses. Preferential localization of ERV to the human, chimpanzee and orangutan Y chromosomes among the low-copy-number ERV is demonstrated. The reason for this accumulation of ERV on the strongly heterochromatic Y chromosome is probably mediated by (i) the absence of recombination of the Y chromosome that makes it more difficult for sequences to be lost, and (ii) integration of retroviruses in heterochromatic regions is less harmful to the organism. If ERV located on the Y chromosome are transcribed and translated to peptides, such peptides could be potential HY-antigens.
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