Role of the human endogenous retrovirus HERV-K18 in autoimmune disease susceptibility: study in the Spanish population and meta-analysis.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Human endogenous retroviruses (HERVs) are genomic sequences that resulted from ancestral germ-line infections by exogenous retroviruses and therefore are transmitted in a Mendelian fashion. Increased HERV expression and antibodies to HERV antigens have been found in various autoimmune diseases. HERV-K18 in chromosome 1 was previously associated with type one diabetes and multiple sclerosis (MS). The etiology of these complex conditions has not been completely elucidated even after the powerful genome wide association studies (GWAS) performed. Nonetheless, this approach does not scrutinize the repetitive sequences within the genome, and part of the missing heritability could lie behind these sequences. We aimed at evaluating the role of HERV-K18 in chromosome 1 on autoimm

SUBMITTER: de la Hera B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3636236 | biostudies-literature | 2013

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature