Open AccessHuman Endogenous Retroviruses: Residues of Ancient Times Are Differentially Expressed in Crohn’s Disease
Author(s) -
Thomas Klag,
L Courth,
Maureen J. Ostaff,
German Ott,
Eduard F. Stange,
Nisar P. Malek,
Wolfgang Seifarth,
Jan Wehkamp
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
inflammatory intestinal diseases
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2296-9403
pISSN - 2296-9365
DOI - 10.1159/000494026
Subject(s) - endogenous retrovirus , crohn's disease , endogeny , virology , disease , biology , genetics , medicine , gene , genome , biochemistry , pathology
Eight percent of the human genome consists of human endogenous retroviruses (HERV). These genetic elements are remnants of ancient retroviral germ-line infections. Altered HERV expression is associated with several chronic inflammatory diseases. A physiological role of the HERV-derived proteins syncytin-1 and -2 has been described for the integrity of the human placental cell layer in terms of maintaining feto-maternal tolerance. The aim of this project was to investigate HERV expression in Crohn's disease (CD) with a further focus on syncytins in the gut.