ERC Consolidator Grant · 2021
Endogenous Retroelements As Transcriptional Parasites And Modulators Of Host Immunity
Almost half of our genome is occupied by ancient viral sequences that can be mobilized under certain conditions and either jump or copy themselves from one location to another. A group of these mobile genetic elements is called endogenous retroelements. Mobilization of retroelements like LINE1 has been shown to cause cancer via insertional mutagenesis. In recent years LINE1 activation has also been associated with the development of inflammatory diseases and inflammation-driven ageing. This means, we collected substantial evidence that half of our genome can potentially make us sick. Nevertheless, we keep replicating these sequences with every cell division at great energetic cost,…
From the public funding record at EU CORDIS. Describes the funded project, not the reviews below.