The landscape of hervRNAs transcribed from human endogenous retroviruses across human body sites.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Human endogenous retroviruses (HERVs), the remnants of ancient retroviruses, account for 8% of the human genome, but most have lost their transcriptional abilities under physiological conditions. However, mounting evidence shows that several expressed HERVs do exert biological functions. Here, we systematically characterize physiologically expressed HERVs and examine whether they may give insight into the molecular fundamentals of human development and disease.

Results

We systematically identify 13,889 expressed HERVs across normal body sites and demonstrate that they are expressed in body site-specific patterns and also by sex, ethnicity, and age. Analyzing cis-ERV-related quantitative trait loci, we find that 5435 hervRNAs are regulated by genetic variants. Comb

SUBMITTER: She J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9632151 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature