The Regulation and Functions of Endogenous Retrovirus in Embryo Development and Stem Cell Differentiation

Endogenous retroviruses (ERVs) are repetitive sequences in the genome, belonging to the retrotransposon family. During the course of life, ERVs are associated with multiple aspects of chromatin and transcriptional regulation in development and pathological conditions. In mammalian embryos, ERVs are...

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Main Authors: Yangquan Xiang, Hongqing Liang
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2021-01-01
Series:Stem Cells International
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2021/6660936
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author Yangquan Xiang
Hongqing Liang
author_facet Yangquan Xiang
Hongqing Liang
author_sort Yangquan Xiang
collection DOAJ
description Endogenous retroviruses (ERVs) are repetitive sequences in the genome, belonging to the retrotransposon family. During the course of life, ERVs are associated with multiple aspects of chromatin and transcriptional regulation in development and pathological conditions. In mammalian embryos, ERVs are extensively activated in early embryo development, but with a highly restricted spatial-temporal pattern; and they are drastically silenced during differentiation with exceptions in extraembryonic tissue and germlines. The dynamic activation pattern of ERVs raises questions about how ERVs are regulated in the life cycle and whether they are functionally important to cell fate decision during early embryo and somatic cell development. Therefore, in this review, we focus on the pieces of evidence demonstrating regulations and functions of ERVs during stem cell differentiation, which suggests that ERV activation is not a passive result of cell fate transition but the active epigenetic and transcriptional regulation during mammalian development and stem cell differentiation.
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publishDate 2021-01-01
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series Stem Cells International
spelling doaj-art-8eb8e5e7e678455db3f0b9c93c702d6b2025-02-03T05:57:35ZengWileyStem Cells International1687-966X1687-96782021-01-01202110.1155/2021/66609366660936The Regulation and Functions of Endogenous Retrovirus in Embryo Development and Stem Cell DifferentiationYangquan Xiang0Hongqing Liang1Division of Human Reproduction and Developmental Genetics, Women’s Hospital, and Institute of Genetics, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, ChinaDivision of Human Reproduction and Developmental Genetics, Women’s Hospital, and Institute of Genetics, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, ChinaEndogenous retroviruses (ERVs) are repetitive sequences in the genome, belonging to the retrotransposon family. During the course of life, ERVs are associated with multiple aspects of chromatin and transcriptional regulation in development and pathological conditions. In mammalian embryos, ERVs are extensively activated in early embryo development, but with a highly restricted spatial-temporal pattern; and they are drastically silenced during differentiation with exceptions in extraembryonic tissue and germlines. The dynamic activation pattern of ERVs raises questions about how ERVs are regulated in the life cycle and whether they are functionally important to cell fate decision during early embryo and somatic cell development. Therefore, in this review, we focus on the pieces of evidence demonstrating regulations and functions of ERVs during stem cell differentiation, which suggests that ERV activation is not a passive result of cell fate transition but the active epigenetic and transcriptional regulation during mammalian development and stem cell differentiation.http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2021/6660936
spellingShingle Yangquan Xiang
Hongqing Liang
The Regulation and Functions of Endogenous Retrovirus in Embryo Development and Stem Cell Differentiation
Stem Cells International
title The Regulation and Functions of Endogenous Retrovirus in Embryo Development and Stem Cell Differentiation
title_full The Regulation and Functions of Endogenous Retrovirus in Embryo Development and Stem Cell Differentiation
title_fullStr The Regulation and Functions of Endogenous Retrovirus in Embryo Development and Stem Cell Differentiation
title_full_unstemmed The Regulation and Functions of Endogenous Retrovirus in Embryo Development and Stem Cell Differentiation
title_short The Regulation and Functions of Endogenous Retrovirus in Embryo Development and Stem Cell Differentiation
title_sort regulation and functions of endogenous retrovirus in embryo development and stem cell differentiation
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2021/6660936
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