Human Endogenous Retroviruses (HERVs): Shaping the Innate Immune Response in Cancers
1
Cancer Research Center of Lyon, 69008 Lyon, France
2
Department of Clinical Hematology, Centre Hospitalier Lyon Sud, Hospices Civils de Lyon, 69310 Pierre-Bénite, France
3
Centre Léon Bérard, 69008 Lyon, France
4
Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, 69008 Lyon, France
5
ErVaccine Technologies, 69008 Lyon, France
*
Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Cancers 2020, 12(3), 610; https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers12030610
Received: 10 February 2020
/
Revised: 2 March 2020
/
Accepted: 5 March 2020
/
Published: 6 March 2020
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Targeting Innate Immunity Cells in Cancer)
Human Endogenous Retroviruses (HERVs) are accounting for 8% of the human genome. These sequences are remnants from ancient germline infections by exogenous retroviruses. After million years of evolution and multiple integrations, HERVs have acquired many damages rendering them defective. At steady state, HERVs are mostly localized in the heterochromatin and silenced by methylation. Multiple conditions have been described to induce their reactivation, including auto-immune diseases and cancers. HERVs re-expression leads to RNA (simple and double-stranded) and DNA production (by reverse transcription), modulating the innate immune response. Some studies also argue for a role of HERVs in shaping the evolution of innate immunity, notably in the development of the interferon response. However, their exact role in the innate immune response, particularly in cancer, remains to be defined. In this review, we see how HERVs could be key-players in mounting an antitumor immune response. After a brief introduction on HERVs characteristics and biology, we review the different mechanisms by which HERVs can interact with the immune system, with a focus on the innate response. We then discuss the potential impact of HERVs expression on the innate immune response in cancer.
View Full-Text
Keywords:
human endogenous retroviruses; innate immunity; cancer
▼
Show Figures
Figure 1
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited
MDPI and ACS Style
Alcazer, V.; Bonaventura, P.; Depil, S. Human Endogenous Retroviruses (HERVs): Shaping the Innate Immune Response in Cancers. Cancers 2020, 12, 610. https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers12030610
AMA Style
Alcazer V, Bonaventura P, Depil S. Human Endogenous Retroviruses (HERVs): Shaping the Innate Immune Response in Cancers. Cancers. 2020; 12(3):610. https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers12030610
Chicago/Turabian StyleAlcazer, Vincent, Paola Bonaventura, and Stephane Depil. 2020. "Human Endogenous Retroviruses (HERVs): Shaping the Innate Immune Response in Cancers" Cancers 12, no. 3: 610. https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers12030610
Find Other Styles
Note that from the first issue of 2016, MDPI journals use article numbers instead of page numbers. See further details here.
