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Human Endogenous Retrovirus K in Cancer: A Potential Biomarker and Immunotherapeutic Target.

Gislaine CurtyJez L MarstonMiguel de MulderFabio E LealDouglas F NixonMarcelo Alves Soares
Published in: Viruses (2020)
In diseases where epigenetic mechanisms are changed, such as cancer, many genes show altered gene expression and inhibited genes become activated. Human endogenous retrovirus type K (HERV-K) expression is usually inhibited in normal cells from healthy adults. In tumor cells, however, HERV-K mRNA expression has been frequently documented to increase. Importantly, HERV-K-derived proteins can act as tumor-specific antigens, a class of neoantigens, and induce immune responses in different types of cancer. In this review, we describe the function of the HERV-K HML-2 subtype in carcinogenesis as biomarkers, and their potential as targets for cancer immunotherapy.
Keyphrases
  • gene expression
  • papillary thyroid
  • endothelial cells
  • squamous cell
  • immune response
  • dna methylation
  • genome wide
  • poor prognosis
  • induced pluripotent stem cells
  • childhood cancer
  • young adults