PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

The viruses in our genes: When activated, they damage brain development

The viruses in our genes: When activated, they damage brain development
2021-05-20
(Press-News.org) Since our ancestors infected themselves with retroviruses millions of years ago, we have carried elements of these viruses in our genes - known as human endogenous retroviruses, or HERVs for short. These viral elements have lost their ability to replicate and infect during evolution, but are an integral part of our genetic makeup. In fact, humans possess five times more HERVs in non-coding parts than coding genes. So far, strong focus has been devoted to the correlation of HERVs and the onset or progression of diseases. This is why HERV expression has been studied in samples of pathological origin. Although important, these studies do not provide conclusions about whether HERVs are the cause or the consequence of such disease.

Today, new technologies enable scientists to receive a deeper insight into the mechanisms of HERVs and their function. Together with her colleagues, virologist Michelle Vincendeau* has now succeeded for the first time in demonstrating the negative effects of HERV activation on human brain development.

HERV activation impairs brain development Using CRISPR technology, the researchers activated a specific group of human endogenous retroviruses** in human embryonic stem cells and generated nerve cells (neurons). These viral elements in turn activated specific genes, including classical developmental factors, involved in brain development. As a result, cortical neurons, meaning the nerve cells in our cerebral cortex, lost their function entirely. They developed very differently from healthy neurons in this brain region - with much a shorter axon (nerve cell extension) that were much less branched. Thus, activation of one specific HERV group impairs cortical neuron development and ultimately brain development.

Clinical relevance Since neurodegenerative diseases are often associated with the activation of several HERV groups, the negative impact of HERV activation on cortical neuron development is an essential finding. It is already known that environmental factors such as viruses, bacteria, and UV light can activate distinct HERVs, thereby potentially contributing to disease onset. This knowledge, in turn, makes HERVs even more interesting for clinical application. Switching off distinct viral elements could open up a new field of research for the treatment of patients with neurodegenerative diseases. In a next step, the group at Helmholtz Zentrum München will study the impact of HERV deactivation in neurons in the context of disease.

New paths for basic research In addition, the research findings provide important indications that epigenetic mechanisms keep viral elements under control in healthy brain development. Michelle Vincendeau even suspects a functional role for the controlled HERVs in normal brain development. "We have carried these elements for about 40 to 70 million years. We assume that their presence is relevant to our natural processes, otherwise we would not have retained them for so long during evolution," Vincendeau says. Further basic research in this direction might reveal new functional roles for HERVs.

INFORMATION:

* Michelle Vincendeau leads the research group for Human Endogenous Retroviruses at the Institute of Viorology at Helmholtz Zentrum München. Part of the data from the current study was generated in the context of her previous work at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York. For this paper, she also collaborated with researchers at the Technical University of Munich and the University of Saarland. ** HERV-K(HML-2)

Original publication Nair et al., 2021: Activation of HERV-K(HML-2) disrupts cortical patterning and neuronal differentiation by increasing NTRK3. Cell Stem Cell, DOI: 10.1016/j.stem.2021.04.009

Helmholtz Zentrum München Helmholtz Zentrum München is a research center with the mission to discover personalized medical solutions for the prevention and therapy of environmentally-induced diseases and promote a healthier society in a rapidly changing world. It investigates important common diseases which develop from the interaction of lifestyle, environmental factors and personal genetic background, focusing particularly on diabetes mellitus, allergies and chronic lung diseases. Helmholtz Zentrum München is headquartered in Neuherberg in the north of Munich and has about 2,500 staff members. It is a member of the Helmholtz Association, the largest scientific organization in Germany with more than 40,000 employees at 18 research centers.


[Attachments] See images for this press release:
The viruses in our genes: When activated, they damage brain development

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

How plants leave behind their parents' genomic baggage

How plants leave behind their parents genomic baggage
2021-05-20
Passing down a healthy genome is a critical part of creating viable offspring. But what happens when you have harmful modifications in your genome that you don't want to pass down? Baby plants have evolved a method to wipe the slate clean and reinstall only the modifications that they need to grow and develop. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) Professor & HHMI Investigator Rob Martienssen and his collaborators, Jean-Sébastien Parent and Institut de Recherche pour le Développement Université de Montpellier scientist Daniel Grimanelli, discovered one of the genes responsible for reinstalling modifications in a baby plant's genome. A plant's genomic modifications--called epigenetic ...

Study finds gender pay gap in large government agency

2021-05-20
The study sought to describe and explain gender pay differences in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services between 2010 and 2018. HHS comprises a quarter of the country's governmental public health workers, with over 80,000 employees. Understanding what may be driving wage gaps at HHS provides opportunities for employers and legislators to take action to support women in the health care field, said lead author Zhuo "Adam" Chen, an associate professor of health policy and management at UGA's College of Public Health. "A large percentage of the health care workforce are women," said Chen. "If you have underpaid women in the profession, I don't think it spells good things for the public health system." Chen ...

Researchers identify novel approach to repair the human heart

2021-05-20
Maywood, Ill. - May 19, 2021 - A team of scientists from Loyola University Chicago's Stritch School of Medicine have discovered a critical component for renewing the heart's molecular motor, which breaks down in heart failure. Approximately 6.2 million Americans have heart failure, an often fatal condition characterized by the heart's inability to pump enough blood and oxygen throughout the body. This discovery could represent a novel approach to repair the heart. Their findings, published in the May 19 issue of Nature Communications, show how a protein called BAG3 helps replace "worn-out" components of the cardiac sarcomere. The sarcomere is a microscopic ...

Blocking a protein in liver cells protects against insulin resistance, fatty liver disease

Blocking a protein in liver cells protects against insulin resistance, fatty liver disease
2021-05-20
FINDINGS A new multi-institution study led by a team of researchers at the David Geffen School of Medicine demonstrated that blocking a protein called ABCB10 in liver cells protects against high blood sugar and fatty liver disease in obese mice. Furthermore, ABCB10 activity prompted insulin resistance in human liver cells. The findings are the first to show that ABCB10 transports biliverdin out of the mitochondria - the cell's "energy generating powerhouses." Biliverdin is the precursor of bilirubin, a substance with antioxidant properties. Consequently, ABCB10 transport ...

Does correcting online falsehoods make matters worse?

2021-05-20
So, you thought the problem of false information on social media could not be any worse? Allow us to respectfully offer evidence to the contrary. Not only is misinformation increasing online, but attempting to correct it politely on Twitter can have negative consequences, leading to even less-accurate tweets and more toxicity from the people being corrected, according to a new study co-authored by a group of MIT scholars. The study was centered around a Twitter field experiment in which a research team offered polite corrections, complete with ...

Young orangutans have sex-specific role models

Young orangutans have sex-specific role models
2021-05-20
Orangutans are closely related to humans. And yet, they are much less sociable than other species of great apes. Previous studies have showed that young orangutans mainly acquire their knowledge and skills from their mothers and other conspecifics. Social learning in orangutans occurs through peering, i.e. sustained observation of other members of the species at close range. An international team led by the University of Zurich (UZH) has now studied peering behavior in young orangutans at two research stations on the islands of Sumatra and Borneo. The data was collected by researchers from the Department of Anthropology of UZH, the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior in Constance, the Universitas Nasional in Jakarta and Leipzig University, ...

We know the cost of free choice and locality - in physics and not only

We know the cost of free choice and locality - in physics and not only
2021-05-20
Do we have free choice or are our decisions predetermined? Is physical reality local, or does what we do here and now have an immediate influence on events elsewhere? The answers to these questions are sought by physicists in the Bell inequalities. It turns out that free choice and local realism can be skilfully measured and compared. The results obtained reveal surprising relationships of a fundamental and universal nature, going far beyond quantum mechanics itself. Causality, locality, and free choice are related by a few simple formulas known as Bell's inequalities. The sophisticated experiments in quantum optics over the past few decades have unquestionably proved that these inequalities are broken. Today, physicists are ...

Alterations in the 3D genome structure and effects on fertility revealed

Alterations in the 3D genome structure and effects on fertility revealed
2021-05-20
The genome is tightly organised (packaged) within the cell nuclei. This three-dimensional (3D) genome organisation is fundamental, given that it regulates gene expression. A study led by scientists at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) now demonstrates using mice models that the 3D organisation of the genome is extremely dynamic during the formation of male germ cells (precursors of spermatozoa) and that alterations in this structure can affect fertility. The research, published in Nature Communications, describes the 3D genome organisation in germ cells of wild populations of house mice (Mus musculus domesticus) with chromosomal rearrangements, ...

Electrons riding a double wave

Electrons riding a double wave
2021-05-20
Since they are far more compact than today's accelerators, which can be kilometers long, plasma accelerators are considered as a promising technology for the future. An international research group has now made significant progress in the further development of this approach: With two complementary experiments at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR) and at the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität Munich (LMU), the team was able to combine two different plasma technologies for the first time and build a novel hybrid accelerator. The concept could advance accelerator development ...

A peptide that allows cannabis-derived drugs to relieve pain without side effects

A peptide that allows cannabis-derived drugs to relieve pain without side effects
2021-05-20
An international team, led by researchers from Pompeu Fabra University (UPF) in Barcelona, Spain, David Andreu and Rafael Maldonado, has developed a peptides family that allows delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the main component of Cannabis sativa, to fight pain in mice without side effects. The study, published in the Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, was carried out together with researchers from the Autonomous University of Barcelona, ??the University of Barcelona, and the University of Lisbon. At present, there are two main types of pain relievers prescribed based on the severity of the pain. Nonsteroidal ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Sylvester Cancer Tip Sheet - June 2025

UC Davis and Proteus Space to launch first-ever dynamic digital twin into space

Olympians' hearts in focus: groundbreaking study reveals elite rowers' surprising AFib risk

Common medicine for autoimmune diseases works on giant cell arteritis

Your neighborhood may be tied to risk of inflammation, dementia biomarkers

AAN issues position statement on possible therapies for neurological conditions

Liver organoid breakthrough: Generating organ-specific blood vessels

LRA awards 2025 Lupus Insight Prize to Dr. Deepak Rao for uncovering key drivers of immune imbalance in lupus

Terasaki Institute’s Dr. Yangzhi Zhu recognized as 2024 Biosensors Young Investigator Award Recipient

NAU researchers launch open-source robotic exoskeleton to help people walk

Early farmers in the Andes were doing just fine, challenging popular theory

Seeing men as the “default” may be tied to attitudes to politicians, Black people

Risk of crime rises when darkness falls

Data from Poland, Indonesia and Nepal indicate that affectionate behavior is associated with higher relationship satisfaction - though cultural differences impact how affection is displayed and percei

"Boomerang" made from mammoth tusk is likely one of the oldest known in Europe at around 40,000 years old, per analysis of this artifact from a Polish Upper Paleolithic cave

"Shrinking" cod: how humans have altered the genetic make-up of fish

Nitrate in drinking water linked to preterm birth rates

Ancient canoe replica tests Paleolithic migration theory

Eight-month-old babies can adapt their learning style to change

Baby talk – a human superpower?

Molecular-level discovery about heart mechanisms could lead to new heart disease treatments

Study links air pollutant to year-round respiratory health in Jackson

Computational trick enables better understanding of exotic state of matter

Professional responsibility for COVID-19 vaccination in pregnancy

Landmark study uncovers role of tumor microenvironment in nasopharyngeal carcinoma progression which supports personalized treatment

Control of spin qubits at near absolute zero a game changer for quantum computers

Immune cells promoting tumor growth? How dying cancer cells turn their enemies into allies

How diverse brain cells reach a decision together

Pervasive surveillance of people is being used to access, monetize, coerce, and control

New global index aims to help people and nature thrive together

[Press-News.org] The viruses in our genes: When activated, they damage brain development