Human Endogenous Retroviruses: Friends and Foes in Urology Clinics.

Int Neurourol J

Department of Life Science, Research Institute for Natural Sciences, College of Natural Sciences, Hanyang University, Seoul, Korea.

Published: December 2022

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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http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9816444PMC
http://dx.doi.org/10.5213/inj.2244284.142DOI Listing

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