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Review
. 2019 Dec;358(6):384-388.
doi: 10.1016/j.amjms.2019.09.007. Epub 2019 Sep 30.

Evolutionary Medicine of Retroviruses in the Human Genome

Yukako Katsura  1 , Satoshi Asai  2
Affiliations
Review

Evolutionary Medicine of Retroviruses in the Human Genome

Yukako Katsura et al. Am J Med Sci. 2019 Dec.

Abstract

Humans are infected with many viruses, and the immune system mostly removes viruses and the infected cells. However, certain viruses have entered the human genome. Of the human genome, ∼45% is composed of transposable elements (long interspersed nuclear elements [LINEs], short interspersed nuclear elements [SINEs] and transposons) and 5-8% is derived from viral sequences with similarity to infectious retroviruses. If integration of retrovirus occurs in a germline, the integrated viral sequences are heritable. Accumulation of viral sequences has created the current human genome. This article summarizes recent studies of retroviruses in humans and bridges clinical fields and evolutionary genetics. First, we report the repertories of human-infective retroviruses. Second, we review endogenous retroviruses in the human genome and diseases associated with endogenous retroviruses. Third, we discuss the biological functions of endogenous retroviruses and propose the concept of accelerated human evolution via viruses. Finally, we present perspectives of virology in the field of evolutionary medicine.

Keywords: Disease; Evolutionary medicine; Human endogenous retrovirus; Human genome; Retrovirus.

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Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Structure of a retrovirus genome and HERV-K. A, The retrovirus genome has at least 3 genes (gag, pol and env) enclosed between 2 long terminal repeats. B, HERV-K env genes originate 2 proteins (np9 and rec) with a different length, and np9 proteins present 292bp deletion.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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