Le Breton Anna, Bettencourt Margarida P, Gendrel Anne-Valerie
Instituto de Medicina Molecular João Lobo Antunes, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal.
Front Cell Dev Biol. 2024 Feb 27;12:1357576. doi: 10.3389/fcell.2024.1357576. eCollection 2024.
Transposable elements (TEs) are mobile genetic elements that constitute on average 45% of mammalian genomes. Their presence and activity in genomes represent a major source of genetic variability. While this is an important driver of genome evolution, TEs can also have deleterious effects on their hosts. A growing number of studies have focused on the role of TEs in the brain, both in physiological and pathological contexts. In the brain, their activity is believed to be important for neuronal plasticity. In neurological and age-related disorders, aberrant activity of TEs may contribute to disease etiology, although this remains unclear. After providing a comprehensive overview of transposable elements and their interactions with the host, this review summarizes the current understanding of TE activity within the brain, during the aging process, and in the context of neurological and age-related conditions.
转座元件（TEs）是可移动的遗传元件，平均占哺乳动物基因组的45%。它们在基因组中的存在和活性是遗传变异的主要来源。虽然这是基因组进化的重要驱动力，但转座元件也可能对其宿主产生有害影响。越来越多的研究聚焦于转座元件在大脑中的作用，包括生理和病理背景下。在大脑中，它们的活性被认为对神经元可塑性很重要。在神经和与年龄相关的疾病中，转座元件的异常活性可能导致疾病病因，尽管这一点仍不清楚。在全面概述转座元件及其与宿主的相互作用之后，本综述总结了目前对大脑中、衰老过程中以及神经和与年龄相关病症背景下转座元件活性的理解。
