SARS-CoV-2 awakens ancient retroviral genes and the expression of proinflammatory HERV-W envelope protein in COVID-19 patients.

ABSTRACT: Patients with COVID-19 may develop abnormal inflammatory response, followed in some cases by severe disease and long-lasting syndromes. We show here that in vitro exposure to SARS-CoV-2 activates the expression of the human endogenous retrovirus (HERV) HERV-W proinflammatory envelope protein (ENV) in peripheral blood mononuclear cells from a subset of healthy donors, in ACE2 receptor and infection-independent manner. Plasma and/or sera of 221 COVID-19 patients from different cohorts, infected with successive SARS-CoV-2 variants including the Omicron, had detectable HERV-W ENV, which correlated with ENV expression in T lymphocytes and peaked with the disease severity. HERV-W ENV was also found in postmortem tissues of lungs, heart, gastrointestinal tract, brain olfactory bulb, and na

SUBMITTER: Charvet B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10079620 | biostudies-literature | 2023 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature