Laboratory of Molecular Virology, Department of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Cagliari - Cittadella Universitaria di Monserrato, SS554, Monserrato (Cagliari), Italy.
Istituto di Ricerca Genetica e Biomedica (IRGB), CNR - SS554, Monserrato (Cagliari), Italy.
Retrovirology. 2021 Oct 29;18(1):34. doi: 10.1186/s12977-021-00578-w.
Zhang et al. (Proc Natl Acad Sci 118:e2105968118, 2021) recently reported that SARS-CoV-2 RNA can be retrotranscribed and integrated into the DNA of human cells by the L1 retrotransposon machinery. This phenomenon could cause persistence of viral sequences in patients and may explain the prolonged PCR-positivity of SARS-CoV-2 infected patients, even long after the phase of active virus replication has ended. This commentary does critically review the available data on this topic and discusses them in the context of findings made for other exogenous viruses and ancestral endogenous retroviral elements.
Zhang 等人（Proc Natl Acad Sci 118:e2105968118, 2021）最近报道称，SARS-CoV-2 RNA 可以通过 L1 反转录转座子机制被逆转录并整合到人类细胞的 DNA 中。这种现象可能导致病毒序列在患者体内持续存在，并可能解释为什么 SARS-CoV-2 感染患者的 PCR 阳性持续时间很长，甚至在病毒复制的活跃阶段结束后很久仍然如此。这篇评论文章批判性地回顾了关于这一主题的现有数据，并在其他外源性病毒和祖先内源性逆转录元件的研究结果的背景下对其进行了讨论。
