Balestrieri Emanuela, Pica Francesca, Matteucci Claudia, Zenobi Rossella, Sorrentino Roberta, Argaw-Denboba Ayele, Cipriani Chiara, Bucci Ilaria, Sinibaldi-Vallebona Paola
Department of Experimental Medicine and Surgery, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Via Montpellier 1, 00133 Rome, Italy.
Department of Experimental Medicine and Surgery, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Via Montpellier 1, 00133 Rome, Italy ; Institute of Translational Pharmacology, National Research Council, Via Fosso del Cavaliere 100, 00133 Rome, Italy.
Biomed Res Int. 2015;2015:164529. doi: 10.1155/2015/164529. Epub 2015 Feb 5.
Human endogenous retroviruses (HERVs) have been implicated in human physiology and in human pathology. A better knowledge of the retroviral transcriptional activity in the general population and during the life span would greatly help the debate on its pathologic potential. The transcriptional activity of four HERV families (H, K, W, and E) was assessed, by qualitative and quantitative PCR, in PBMCs from 261 individuals aged from 1 to 80 years. Our results show that HERV-H, HERV-K, and HERV-W, but not HERV-E, are transcriptionally active in the test population already in the early childhood. In addition, the transcriptional levels of HERV-H, HERV-K, and HERV-W change significantly during the life span, albeit with distinct patterns. Our results, reinforce the hypothesis of a physiological correlation between HERVs activity and the different stages of life in humans. Studies aiming at identifying the factors, which are responsible for these changes during the individual's life, are still needed. Although the observed phenomena are presumably subjected to great variability, the basal transcriptional activity of each individual, also depending on the different ages of life, must be carefully considered in all the studies involving HERVs as causative agents of disease.
人类内源性逆转录病毒（HERVs）与人类生理和病理过程有关。更深入了解普通人群以及整个生命周期中的逆转录病毒转录活性，将极大地有助于关于其病理潜力的讨论。通过定性和定量PCR评估了来自261名年龄在1至80岁之间个体的外周血单核细胞（PBMCs）中四个HERV家族（H、K、W和E）的转录活性。我们的结果表明，HERV-H、HERV-K和HERV-W在幼儿期就已在测试人群中具有转录活性，而HERV-E则没有。此外，HERV-H、HERV-K和HERV-W的转录水平在整个生命周期中发生显著变化，尽管模式不同。我们的结果强化了HERVs活性与人类生命不同阶段之间存在生理相关性的假设。仍需要开展研究以确定个体生命过程中导致这些变化的因素。尽管观察到的现象可能存在很大变异性，但在所有将HERVs作为疾病致病因素的研究中，都必须仔细考虑每个个体的基础转录活性，这也取决于不同的生命年龄阶段。
