For good and for bad: the role of endogenous retroelements in humans

Abstract

Transposable elements (TEs) are the sequences that are able to „jump” across the genome. They are found in virtually all organisms including human. Although in human, the majority of TEs lost their ability to autonomous transposition, they make up almost half of our genome, and played important roles in genome evolution. Fast progress in deep sequencing and functional analysis has revealed the importance of domes­ticated copies of transposable elements, including their regulatory sequences, transcripts and proteins in normal cells functioning. However, a growing numer of evidence suggest the involvment of TEs in development and progression of autoimmune and neurodegenerative disaeses as well as in many types of cancer. In this review we summarize the current state of knowledge about the LTR retroelements: endogenous retroviruses (ERVs) and Ty3/Gypsy retrotransposons, and their role in human organism.